A member must be on the floor of the House or in an adjacent room or hallway on the same level as the House floor in order to vote
What few may have noticed during Tuesdays House Floor vote to strip virtually all the powers away from the elected State Board of Education (SBOE) was the protracted vote verification that took place following the recorded vote.
In a verification of the close vote roll is called and members individually attest to their votes. If members are there for the first voting but absent during the verification" process their votes are erased.
House Speaker Joe Straus initially closed voting on HJR 77 with the ceremonial clang of the gavel and announced passage by a score of 99 yeas 45 neas & 1 present-not-voting. After a request for vote verification due to the seriousness of the issue and its needing 2/3rd of those present & voting for passage the totals changed to 104-44.
The House wouldnt have to go through this verification process were it not for the fiercely guarded practice" and prominent use of ghost voting." Members hold to the fact that they are so busy on the House floor they should be able to let a neighbor push their desktop voting buttons when time comes to register a yea or a nay for the voting record.
A report by Christy Hoppe of The Dallas Morning News Austin Bureau shows that the ghost voting practice makes the House look chaotic at times. Hoppe detailed how a number of votes registered on one contentious matter last week were cast in the names of people who were not in the building or even in town.
When it came time to vote in the House last week on a hotly contested proposal about penalties in domestic abuse cases one member was in San Antonio at a funeral. One was in a doctors office. Two others were at the airport.
The House rules state that a member must be on the floor of the House or in an adjacent room or hallway on the same level as the House floor in order to vote however none were anywhere near the Capitol when they cast their votes.
There was a whole lot of ghost voting going on. Its not perceived as a problem to us as much as it is a peoples perception about us said Rep. Harold Dutton D-Houston who prompted the verification roll call vote last Thursday.
Lawmakers changed the House rules this year to expressly call upon each member to give permission to another for a vote to be cast. But the rules still state that a member must be in proximity to the House for that to happen.
Among the absentees was former Speaker Tom Craddick R-Midland who had left the Capitol and was on his way home to a museum dedication. Craddick said he gave five colleagues who sit in the desks around him permission to vote for him on any issue when hes not there. However when asked about Thursdays vote he has no idea who voted for him.
But idea of ghost voting doesnt seem to bother Craddick or other House members.
Rep. Myra Crownover R-Denton was also on her way to the museum dedication when she was voted. Weve got a very careful system she said.
Crownover stated that the colleagues who sit near her desk both Democrats and Republicans understand how she would feel on virtually every issue and as allowed under the rules she has granted them permission to vote for her.
House members must oftentimes meet with constituents or make phone calls which cause them to leave the floor. Members believe when this happens it is a sensible courtesy to allow a close colleague to vote for you.
Lawmakers readily acknowledged that the practice of ghost voting is still an honored tradition even after Austin television station KEYE embarrassed the House by airing a caught-on-camera" segment in 2007 of numerous members scampering from desk to desk to punch voting buttons of absent colleagues.
After the incident former Speaker Craddick ordered a study of how technology could help advance votes as lawmakers circulate on the House floor. That led to the purchase last year of $100000 worth of fingerprint-reading voting stations that were to be placed around the chamber for members convenience such as from the members lounge or far corners of the chamber. The system was never installed and is currently abandoned.
The House now has a new speaker Joe Straus but still abides by old habits. The voting stations remain in boxes and the vote-for-your-buddy routine remains in full swing.
The speaker looks forward to exploring with members to determine how to use technology to improve the process in the future Hale said.
But with the way members stand up for ghost voting we shouldnt be too surprised if the new technology for voting security stays in the boxes.
Its a battle of trust. Do we as citizens believe members when they say that ghost voting is common courtesy" when they themselves are not opposed to or skeptical of the votes being recorded in their absence? Or do we stand up for straight principle- that our lawmakers should be at their post on the floor out of simple respect for those who took the time to write debate and support bills that whether or not are passed were written for the betterment of Texans.
And lest we forget KEYE didnt make up their footage when they aired what goes on when our lawmakers are absent.
