Effort To End Deceptive Voice Votes In Tennessee House Brought By Rep. Richey

Image Credit: capitol.tn.gov

The Tennessee Conservative [By Kelly M. Jackson] –

On The House Floor this week, Freshman Representative Bryan Richey (R-D20-Maryville) made a motion to amend the current rules of procedure for how members of House Committees and Subcommittees cast their votes. 

Currently, the manner in which house committee members cast their vote in favor of, or against bills that are presented to them is either by voice vote or by what is aptly called a Roll Call Vote. 

A voice vote is simply when the chairperson of the committee asks all those who are in favor and then all those who are opposed, and based on his or her observation of who appeared or sounded to have more votes, a verdict is determined.

A Roll Call vote is exactly how it sounds. Each member of the committee is called on, and they give their vote at that time, and it is recorded for posterity. 

The difference between a good bill being moved along in the process or being killed in committee often comes down to whether they took a voice vote and whether the count of that vote was accurate.  

Unless the sponsor of the bill being presented asks for a roll call vote and that request gets a motion and then a second from another member, no record is kept of how each Representative voted. Voice vote appears to be the default method of voting in the Tennessee House’s bevy of subcommittees and committees. On a voice vote, Representatives can request that their vote be recorded but they tend to do this infrequently.

For example, when Representative Richey presented his bill HB0405, which would have effectively closed primary elections in the state of Tennessee, it failed in the hearing in front of the House Local Government Committee . This was due to a voice vote that was called by Chairman John Crawford. Representative Crawford judged that the No votes outnumbered the Ayes, and then declared the bill as failed. 

However, based on a count taken by the bill’s sponsor, there were 9 Ayes and 8 Noes. Had the roll call vote been the default practice when voting on legislation, the bill would have been moved on to the house floor where it may have passed and become law. 

This is just one example of many that take place on a regular basis that either through mistake or even intentional use, could be avoided all together if Roll Call Voting were a standard practice. 

The public deserves to know how their representatives are voting on their behalf. At least Representative Bryan Richey believes that, and with enthusiasm.

Now that he has motioned for the amendment to the rules, the process proceeds as follows:

1 – Amendment is sent to the Select Committee on Rules either by the body, or by the sponsor. In this case, Representative Richey chose to send it himself in the spirit of cooperation.

2 – Speaker of The House Representative Cameron Sexton gets to decide IF he is going to convene this Select Committee to deal with the amendment to the rules to make roll call votes standard in committees.

3 – If Speaker Sexton convenes the Select Committee, then the sponsor will have the opportunity to make their case to the committee, and the committee will vote, ironically, by voice vote, avoiding a record of how they voted.

4 – If approved, the amendment is then put to the entire House body for a full vote of passage.

It is incredibly important that Tennessee voters have the ability to look back at the record and hold state representatives accountable for how they represent the citizens who sent them there.

We encourage readers to contact Speaker Cameron Sexton, and request that he convene The Select Committee On House Rules this coming week,  so a solid attempt can be made to achieve as much transparency in the state government as possible. 

About the Author: Kelly Jackson is a recent escapee from corporate America, and a California refugee to Tennessee. Christ follower, Wife and Mom of three amazing teenagers. She has a BA in Comm from Point Loma Nazarene University, and has a background in law enforcement and human resources. Since the summer of 2020, she has spent any and all free time in the trenches with local grassroots orgs, including Mom’s for Liberty Williamson County and Tennessee Stands as a core member.  Outspoken advocate for parents rights, medical freedom, and individual liberty. Kelly can be reached at kelly@tennesseeconservativenews.com.