Comments on Advance Indiana™: Does It Matter Who Pushes A Legislator's Voting Button?

Isn’t the point of a floor speaker to persuade or ...

2009-04-22T10:21:00.000-05:00

Isn’t the point of a floor speaker to persuade or inform those who would vote otherwise. Without being present to listen to the opposing point of view how can that process play out if legislators aren’t present during that deliberation. Should they be allowed to dismiss listening to each other before they vote because they’re having a snack attack or because an (opposing) lobbyist wants to chat! I don’t think so; there is nothing worse than having a legislator with an uninformed predetermined voting practice.

I have a problem with this practice because it les...

2009-04-22T08:17:00.000-05:00

I have a problem with this practice because it lessens public accountability. What keeps a legislator from asking a guy to vote for him all day while he's playing golf or having a long lunch with lobbyists?

I say give the legislators buzzers like at Applebees and signal them when it's time to vote. If they are really in the hall, they can tell whoever they're talking with that I have to vote, run in and push a button, and come back outside.

In addition, though I admit this example might be extreme, it wouldn't surprise me to one day see a legislator saying, "I told so-and-so to vote 'Aye,' but he mistakenly voted 'Nay.' The vote cast was not what I intended, nor is it consistent with my lifetime of working for (blah, blah, blah)."

I could actually envision a vote blowing up on a member so much during a campaign, that he'd have a better chance of surviving telling his constituents that he used poor judgment to let someone else press a button for him than saying he used poor judgment on the vote itself.

And if you have somebody with an interest in staying in the majority who is in a clearly safe district, he or she could play the fall guy/gal. Imagine two people at a press conference. The culprit says, "I feel so terrible. Not that I cast the vote. Everybody does this occasionally. But he told me Aye, and I just pressed the wrong button. I hope the voters of his district do not take it out on him for my obvious mistake. We ALL ask others to vote for us. I just got it wrong. So-and-so has been a devoted fighter for (blah, blah, blah) not only publicly but behind closed doors in the caucus."

Tell me this has would never happen with the pressure of, say, an election before redistricting.

I should add that proxy voting would never be allo...

2009-04-22T08:12:00.000-05:00

I should add that proxy voting would never be allowed by rule for votes in the full House. There was an issue a few years ago about an ill legislator being allowed to cast a vote remotely from his home. As I recall, he was on the phone and communicated his vote, which was recorded.

I don't know what the current rules say, but I kno...

2009-04-22T08:10:00.000-05:00

I don't know what the current rules say, but I know the House rules allowed proxy voting in committees only at one time.

What are the House of Representatives rules of pro...

2009-04-22T07:32:00.000-05:00

What are the House of Representatives rules of procedure on this type of proxy voting?

While I'm totally sympathetic with Paul's position...

2009-04-22T07:31:00.000-05:00

While I'm totally sympathetic with Paul's position that there are hundreds of legislative votes versus a handfull at the polls, I can't agree with his characterizing DI as "comparing apples and oranges". It would seem that one could cast his neighbor's vote at the polls if the law expressly authorized some kind of "power of attorney" situation. Absent that, no vicarious exercise. Perhaps that concept, at least acknowledged in legislative rules, if not the law itself, might at least serve to keep the practice above board.

I DO have a problem with this, especially if a lar...

2009-04-22T07:04:00.000-05:00

I DO have a problem with this, especially if a large group of legislators take advantage of the questionable practice. We elect legislators to cast votes on our behalf. Children spend much more time in the classroom, and they aren't allowed to get up out of their seats during test time or instructional time. Yes, they may on occasion excuse themselves to go to the restroom, but they can't simply get up to get a candy bar or a soda pop. Likewise, the real world doesn't operate like this either. Employees can't come and go as they please and expect their co-workers to do their jobs while they're away. These votes are legally cast, and to have even a shadow of doubt placed over a single vote begs for trouble.

DI, in a four year election cycle, you have six el...

2009-04-21T22:01:00.000-05:00

DI, in a four year election cycle, you have six elections where a person casts a vote. When you're voting in a legislative body, you literally cast hundreds of votes. A vote cast at the ballot is a private matter. A vote cast in the General Assembly is not priate at all. You're comparing apples and oranges.

Then why isn't it OK for me to cast my neighbor's ...

2009-04-21T21:39:00.000-05:00

Then why isn't it OK for me to cast my neighbor's vote in an election?

No, I don't think it's proper thing to have a staffer or the guy in the next chair over casting votes because you step out for a minute. That IS their job, afterall. Bend one 'little' rule and then what, another and another?

Nope - I'm against this one 100%.

Gary, I worked at the Indiana State Senate in the ...

2009-04-21T19:53:00.000-05:00

Gary, I worked at the Indiana State Senate in the 1980s. This story doesn't really bother me at all. Now if a legislator were actually not in the building and votes were being cast for him or her, I'd have a problem with that. But people are busy. So what if they step out for a second and someone casts a vote for him or her? Not a big issue.

Like you, I'd draw the line when it comes to people not on the legislator's staff casting votes for him or her. When that starts happening on a regular basis that's a problem.

I think this is a matter easily resolved with some common sense guidelines.