Legislator voter fraud, ho hum

For some reason this video blurb is making the rounds again about how Texas legislators vote for their colleagues, are absent from the House floor, are not abiding by the rules they ask everyone to follow, and don't therefore have the integrity or any standing to impose voting restrictions on us.





If the votes were fraudulent in that members were casting contrary votes for each other, then I would care. If that kind of activity occurred, you bet the practice would stop immediately. You see, there is no vote fraud here. All you’re doing by asking the legislators to push their own button is for them to be in their seat like little kids when the teacher says “vote now.” The legislators have so much more to do than to be required to be sitting in their seat for multitudinous votes.

It’s common practice for legislators to call staffers and have them call Legislator Blank’s office and ask that staff to have their boss vote for them. The legislator is detained while meeting with Acme MegaCorporation or Mother Mary and the Sisters of the Poor and to ask them to be at their desks on the floor constantly is no more than a silly attendance requirement and hinders their ability to discuss creating appropriate policy with interested parties.

This issue is a nonstarter for me.