The Alabama House of Representatives documents every vote cast during a given legislative session, but that doesn't mean the lawmaker on record is the one who pushed the button.
Proxy voting, in which one member votes another's machine for them, has been a common practice in the House for decades, due in part to its voting procedures.
Before a bill achieves final passage, it may go through several rounds of voting, including floor amendments, substitutions and a budget isolation resolution — a constitutional requirement for bills brought before the legislature approves state budgets.
For each vote, House members can indicate a yes, no or abstention by pressing the respective button on their designated voting machine. When a vote is called, the House Clerk electronically unlocks the machines, and members have only a few seconds to cast their vote before it's locked in.
Unlike at the federal level, where members of the U.S. House of Representatives cast their votes by inserting their unique identification card into a voting machine, the voting machines in the State House are open to anyone, regardless of whose name is on them.
Former State Rep. Tommy Hanes, who served from 2014 to 2022, said House members had other people vote their machines every day during session.
"I spent two terms down there, and it was just common practice every day," Hanes told 1819 News. "Sometimes they were absent. They weren't even there. The roll is called every day. It's not confirmed whether somebody is there or not… They always have enough for a quorum every day."
In 2015, Hanes said he voted for five lawmakers for an entire legislative day. He said then-House Speaker Mike Hubbard made sure to give him extra time to cast the votes on all five machines.
"I voted five machines all day, one day," he said. "There's all the time somebody not there, for whatever reason… I've had them say, 'Hey, these next three or four bills coming up, vote this way for me. I got to run up to the Senate.' It's that way on every bill unless the opposition don't want that bill to pass and they think there's not enough of the other side on the floor to pass it. Then they'll invoke Rule 32. And what that means is, you cannot vote someone else's machine for them."
Rule 32 states that "No member shall vote for another member, except by unanimous consent; nor shall any person not a member cast a vote for a member." Typically, unanimous consent is voted on at the start of each legislative day, excusing any absences. Any member can invoke the rule to force lawmakers to cast their own votes.
"I've only seen Rule 32 invoked one time so far this quadrinium. We were specifically asked not to invoke Rule 32 on the gambling vote," one current legislator, who asked to remain anonymous, told 1819 News.
"It's one thing if you got a friend who's voting your machine for you, if you got a family emergency or something, or if it's literally like your 25th wedding anniversary. But you've communicated with them that, hey, just follow so and so, and I'm going to be out on my wedding anniversary, right? But obviously, that should not be the norm; that should be the exception to the rule of you being there."
Former U.S. Representative and current candidate for Alabama House District 20, Mo Brooks, has criticized the House's use of proxy voting, saying it opens the vote up to fraud.
"The problem is when one absent legislator gives no proxy to anyone, and someone votes the absent legislator's machine contrary to the absent legislator's wishes," Brooks said.
In response to Brooks, Charles Murry, spokesman for House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter's (R-Rainsville) office, said in a previous statement, "Speaker Ledbetter runs a very tight ship and would never allow anything to threaten the integrity of votes cast in his chamber. If a member is absent, they can – and often do – direct the Clerk of the House to lock their voting machine… 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."
Brooks cited a Madison County greyhound racing bill that narrowly passed in 1984 by one vote. Then-State Rep. Billy Gray became the deciding "yes" vote approving the bill, despite his stated wish not to vote in favor of the gambling measure. Gray tried to change his vote, but the bill had already advanced to the Senate and could not be altered, according to an article in The Huntsville Times published March 11, 1984.
"I think the journal should reflect that I did not intend to vote in favor of dog racing in Madison County," Gray said at the time.
Hanes gave a more recent account, saying someone cast a vote for him contrary to his wishes on one occasion, though he said it was likely accidental and that he never heard of someone intentionally voting against another lawmaker's stated wishes. He emphasized that most proxy voting is done to cover for people who are present in the building but not at their machines.
"They're covering for somebody when they vote their machines," he said. "But still, I guess when you look at the grand scheme here, it's probably not right, when it boils right down to it. But as far as it being a common practice, it goes on every day they're in session."
Former State Rep. Corey Harbinson, who resigned in April 2025, was the subject of a hit piece by Alabama Political Reporter over his many absences from the state legislature due to family matters.
He told 1819 News that proxy voting, even in his case, was common.
"There were a couple of legislators that, when I was first elected, I never even got to meet because they were never there for whatever reason," he said. "... It's not something that just happens all of the time, but it's not uncommon either. Especially with people that's had health issues or their family has health issues, it is common. Turn in your list, and they'll vote your machine for you."
The House's voting procedures are unlikely to change with the new State House building, expected to be ready by the 2027 session. House Clerk John Treadwell told 1819 News that the new voting machines will be similar to the current models, with some software and hardware upgrades.
"The voting system in the new State House will be similar to the existing system, with some upgrades in hardware, software, and the voting displays throughout the chamber," he said. "The system is designed with numerous security features, such as the ability to lock any particular voting panel at a member's desk. The Rules of the House govern the procedures associated with voting in the House, and the system is programmed to adhere to the voting procedures. The system has the capacity to accommodate any additional voting procedures or security features that may be adopted by the body in the House Rules. Our Rules of the House for the next quadrennium will be adopted at the Organizational Session in January of 2027."
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