Last week, we looked at Thomas Edison’s failed attempt to get Congress to change its ways and vote electronically. Nonetheless, it was clearly an idea that needed to be implemented at some point, and so today we’ll look at some of the further attempts made to improve the way that Congress votes.
Lewis Beach was a stalwart of the New York Democratic party, and served as their treasurer from 1877-1879. This was enough to allow him to run in and win election to the House of Representatives in 1880. As Chairman on Expenditures on Public Buildings in 1886, he introduced a resolution that would “inquire into the feasibility of a plan for registering votes.” A few months later, his fellow Democrat Representative Benjamin Le Fevre, submitted a resolution asking for the electrical recording of votes. Both of these resolutions were sent to the Committee on Rules, who let them die a quiet death, with no further action on either being recorded.
This hardly ended the matter, however: over the next 83 years, no fewer than 49 further resolutions were introduced, most of which died the same ignominious deaths as their forebears from 1886. Only three generated even token interest: HR 513 (1915), HR 223 (1916) and HR 497 (1923). HR 513 was introduced by Representative Allan Walsh of New Jersey, who had worked at an electrical firm previous to becoming a Congressman. Walsh was primarily concerned with the time wasted, testifying before the committee seated to discuss the matter that 55 legislative days had been wasted thus during the 62nd Congress.
Likewise, HR 223 and HR 497 were taken up by a Committee, and some discussions were had, and reports were generated, but no further action was taken. One of the arguments used against these new-fangled devices was that there was no way of fixing a vote, especially since it would take so little time to tally the vote. Furthermore, given the importance of voting, the minority “seriously question[ed] the wisdom of hurrying this branch of work.”
In spite of positive reports from the committees, good old inertia held sway, and it was not until 1970 that anything was to change. The overhaul came as part of the Legislative Reorganization Act of that year, and was inserted – almost as an afterthought – to a bill that would have wide-ranging impacts on how Congress operated. In late 1970, the Clerk of the House requested that a new system be devised, at the same time, created House Information Systems a new group who were to ensure that Congress had the best and most effective computer systems. They were also given the task of creating an electronic voting system.
Not to be rushed, the first vote was not made until January 23, 1973. There were no reported issues involved with the vote, and the system has been used successfully ever since. The system used is quite simple: once the chair announces a vote, a clerk opens the system to operation. Each present Congressperson then goes to one of 46 stations with their personal card, which they insert, and thereafter press the key corresponding to their vote.
Today's voting machines. (House.gov)
The whole process can take as little as two minutes, though votes can be held open for as much as 15 minutes, or – in one famous incident – 2 hours and 51 minutes. In other words, a vast improvement over the 45 minutes that were the norm before the introduction of electronic voting.
If you want way more information about this topic, see the report “Electronic Voting System in the House of Representatives”