Former U.S. Representative and current candidate for Alabama House District 20 Mo Brooks is already making waves at the State House by calling out a common practice that he believes should be illegal.
Brooks told 1819 News that House members or staff often cast a proxy vote for another lawmaker in their absence, sometimes without proper consent. He said it was tantamount to "voter fraud."
"The State House has voting machines for legislators that have no security system. When the speaker turns on one machine voting machine, he turns on all of them, and the way in which they vote on the House floor is by pushing a green button, or a red button, green for yes, and red for no," Brooks said. "The problem is that since there is not a security system, it is very easy for another legislator, motivated for whatever reason, to vote somebody else's machine. And sometimes that is contrary to the wishes of the legislator whose machine it is. That needs to be stopped."
Brooks said such proxy voting was virtually impossible in the U.S. Congress and should be equally discouraged in the State House.
"In my judgment, it ought to be a criminal offense to engage in voter fraud on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives. And it ought to be enforced," he said.
1819 News spoke with a current lawmaker who wished to remain anonymous about proxy voting. He said it still occurs, often in extreme cases when a lawmaker can't be in chambers but still wishes to cast a vote. However, he said, someone casting a vote for an absent lawmaker without their consent is possible.
According to Rule 32 of the House's "General Rules of Order and Procedure," "no member shall vote for another member, except by unanimous consent; nor shall any person not a member cast a vote for a member."
The House Speaker's Office denied that any "voter fraud" was occurring on the House floor, as Brooks claimed, and that proxy voting was being conducted in accordance with House rules.
"I am not sure what went on while Mo served in the House almost 40 years ago, but Speaker Ledbetter runs a very tight ship and would never allow anything to threaten the integrity of votes cast in his chamber," Charles Murry, spokesman for House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter's (R-Rainsville) office, told 1819 News. "If a member is absent, they can – and often do – direct the Clerk of the House to lock their voting machine. Rule 32(f) states, 'No member shall vote for another member, except by unanimous consent.' What this means is that if a member must step outside the chamber for any brief period of time, they are allowed to give another member express consent and direction on how to vote their machine, so long as there is unanimous consent among the body. This is standard practice, and any assertion that members' machines are being voted without their consent is entirely false."
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