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This is a travesty to those who don't understand what's going on.
Rep. Elkins who's mentioned in there... yeah I was working for him when this happened. So lets clear up these questions.
"Why are they casting votes?"
Because many Reps are involved in many different Councils. In our Constitution the House/Senate is only in session every other year from Jan. to May 28th. On top of that it is illegal for the state to go into debt, which means more than half of that time is spent on HB 1... the budget for the next two years. So the house by the second half goes from 7am to 2am, very often not allowing breaks for lunch or even bathrooms. So what do you do? You get your trusted friends to vote for you.
If you're in a Council you have a duty to attend those meetings, where knowledgable people, and state legal experts explain in detail the ramifications of the bill and the wording. They are then in charge of amending it to make it legal, or to clarify the terms. This takes weeks sometimes, and runs at the exact same time as votes/discussions on the floor for bills that have passed out of council.
"They're casting multiple votes! That's Fraud!"
It's not like these people are sneaking votes away from the other party. It's not a system of press the button 4 times you get 4 votes, so this video of the two votes for the one absent Rep is nothing but a sham-job of smearing.
It's the system, it's our Constitution, they work within the realm of it. This is only fraud for those who know nothing about the Texas Legislature.
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"Smite the rocks with the rod of knowledge, and fountains of unstinted wealth will gush forth." - Ashbel Smith as he laid the first cornerstone of the University of Texas
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