Watchdog group says 'ghost voting' goes on more than claimed
"Ghost-voting" in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives is a practice that's gone on for decades, mostly ignored and winked at by legislators on both sides of the aisle, according to the director of a Harrisburg-based government watchdog group.
"It's a practice that's been going on forever. There's a good rule that's already been in the books requiring members to be present in the (House) chamber to cast a vote, but it's not enforced," said Barry Kauffman, executive director of Common Cause of Pennsylvania.
However, the practice of House members casting votes for absentee legislators could change in the near future.
Recent complaints have prompted the state House ethics committee, headed by Rep. Thomas L. Stevenson, an Allegheny County Republican, to investigate the practice of "ghost-voting." A Philadelphia Democrat, state Rep. William Rieger, has admitted he was at home Feb. 3 when he was recorded as being present in Harrisburg and casting six votes.
The house Web site claims that technology has enabled House members to handle their responsibilities with greater efficiency and expediency since the 1960s. Two electronic voting tally boards were installed in the House in 1961 that permit each member to cast his or her vote by pressing one button on a small box attached to each member's desk.
A green button registers an "aye" vote and the red button registers a "nay" vote, according to the Web site. Corresponding lights appear next to each member's name on the electronic voting board so spectators can see how a legislator voted.
House members from Westmoreland and Fayette counties said Wednesday that "ghost voting" is very isolated. No one in the contingent confessed to doing it.
"I don't think it's prevalent. Maybe there's an ongoing argument on a specific bill and someone has to leave to go to the restroom and they don't want to miss the vote. It does happen, and it happens from members on both sides of the aisle," said state Rep. Thomas A. Tangretti, a Hempfield Township Democrat.
But Tangretti believes that if a legislator was not in Harrisburg but was recorded as casting votes, the matter should be investigated.
"If someone is back in his or her home district and is recorded as voting (in Harrisburg), it definitely is a matter that should be looked at," Tangretti said.
Two other area House members, Republican Jess Stairs, of Mt. Pleasant Township, and Democrat Joseph Petrarca, of Oklahoma Borough, concurred.
"I really think this was an isolated case and I'm not completely sure what actually happened, but I think it should be looked into. It's one thing to be here in Harrisburg and temporarily leaving your seat ... it's another thing if you're back home and recorded as being present and still voting," Stairs said.
"That's fraud and not acceptable as far as I'm concerned. We work under an honor system here, and it shouldn't be taken advantage of."
Petrarca said he has not observed a lot of abuse of the electronic voting system.
"But if the allegations are true that this is happening, it does deserve to be looked at. To tell you the truth, I'm worrying a lot more about my own votes while I'm here," Petrarca said.
Petrarca noted that he has a 100 percent voting record to date this session.
"I rarely miss. For instance, I may have missed a vote after the death of my father or while one of my kids was born ... but I was recorded as absent those days," Petrarca said.
Rep. Ted Harhai, a Monessen Democrat, also said he is too involved with the importance of his own votes to keep track of the other 202 representatives.
"If I'm not here, I report myself as absent. If someone was recorded as being here and was not, then it definitely should be looked into," Harhai said.
Fayette County state Rep. James Shaner, a Democrat, also touted his own voting record.
"I've been here 10 years and have only missed two days because I was sick. I don't really think the problem is widespread, but I do know that I'm at my desk every day," Shaner said. "It's a shame that one or two people taking advantage of the (voting) system are giving us a bad name. And if it happened, it needs to be investigated."
The 50-member state Senate requires voice roll-call votes. However, Democratic and Republican leaders are permitted to vote on behalf of members who are away from the Capitol on legislative business.
Meanwhile, Kauffman scoffed when informed that representatives from the Westmoreland-Fayette region reported they do not participate in "ghost-voting."
"You should sit up in the gallery on a really hot day here and look down on the floor during discussion to see who's there and then see the number of votes cast. The law is in the books to keep the integrity of the process," Kauffman said.
"So many times, you see a bill change 10-15 times because of amendments. A legislator should know exactly what he's voting on.
"Either you actually voted on a bill or you didn't. If there's a fire back in your home district and you have to run back in your office to take calls on it or there's some other major emergency, I think people will understand your absence. But if you're back in your office or back in your home district to meet with major campaign contributors and miss a vote, then you should be recorded as absent."
The voting controversy is not a new one.
For example, on Aug. 4, 1991, former state Rep. Richard Hayden, also a Philadelphia Democrat, cast the deciding vote on the state budget and tax hike while he was in the Philadelphia International Airport awaiting a vacation flight to Hawaii. Media reports said Hayden used a paper clip to lock on the "aye" button in order to vote in favor of the budget.
In 1967, then state Rep. Susie Monroe, also of Philadelphia, was too ill to travel to Harrisburg, but was recorded as casting a vote in favor of hiking the state sales tax from 5 percent to 6 percent. Milton Shapp, then a Democratic Party candidate for governor, challenged the new tax rate in court based on Monroe's absence, but he eventually lost the challenge.
