Rails 3: Display variable from controller in view

I'm pretty new to rails and I was wondering how I can display a variable from my controller into my view.

Basically, I have 2 files: articles_controller.rb and _article.html.erb

In my controller file I have a variable @article_votes that I want to display on my view. I've tried using <%= @article_votes %> but it does not display anything at all.

Would anyone have any guidance? Thank you!