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Originally Posted by Seaver
First off the vote was on a bill which was nothing more than posturing. It was on adding the new Genital Warts vaccine as required for public schools. Our Governor already used an executive order to make it mandatory, it was just a posturing vote to try to send the Gov. a message to let the legislature do it's job.
The penalty one faces for voting for someone else against their wishes is pretty harsh. (S)He is kicked out of all of the councils (s)he sits on, and faces being booted off the podium during any debate (Chair powers), which effectively makes him no more than an ass in a chair.
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Originally Posted by DCDux
Voting in the legislature in TX (or any state) is not covered by state election laws but by the rules and procedures of the legislative body. And the rules of the Texas House are explicit but not very punitive:
Any member found guilty by the house of knowingly voting for another member on the voting machine shall be subject to discipline deemed appropriate by the house
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I post because there is a HUGE discrepancy here, in a way.
DCDux shows us that the HOUSE determines the punishment (the tape also shows this). Thus, one would surmise that if the GOP controls the House and the vote is on something that is partisan and deemed to be close, and a GOP Rep votes along the party lines and in turn votes against how the Dem Rep would have.... the GOP House could just give a slap of the wrist. Say Seaver sits next to me he's a GOP. I, a Dem can't be there (or I step away to piss), it's a bill the Dem party dislikes, GOP loves. Seaver, decides to vote for it. I find out, complain, the GOP controlled House realizes that 1 vote could make a difference and says aw fucking well the votes are counted it's done. Then slaps Seaver on the wrist and tells him bad boy.
Also, how does one Rep prove how he wanted to vote? Again, let's say I sit next to Seaver and he is a very powerful GOP Rep. sitting on some key committees and I tell him to vote one way, then come back and file a complaint because "he voted the wrong way." Thus, he could lose all his power and just be "an ass in the chair" and my party congratulates me by next session moving me up in the power structure or supporting one of my bills.
* Then again if the bill is so important, why is not everyone there to vote for themselves.
Also, this not-so-bad partisanship must be a new thing for Texas, because one of Bush's selling points in '00 was that he was able to get the 2 parties to work together, something that was supposedly very, very hard to do.
Just too many what ifs and questions for this system in Texas to be ok. Perhaps Texas can work a bill through that states voting on bills will be done every Friday all debates will be done in the days previous and only voting will be done and it will be mandatory for each representative to vote for himself (or in emergency cases a certified aide from his staff) or he loses his vote on that bill.
Also, watching the tape it looks like people have more than 15 sec to vote. One guy is standing there talking to another looks over, then walks over and votes, then walks again to another table and votes.
You have a 15 sec limit you're not talking to people and walking over to vote. I find that extremely hard to believe.