Legislature’s Vote Procedures

The front-page article (June 19) about legislators missing votes triggered the memory of my recent visit to our state Legislature. I was in Sacramento on business on May 25 and had a morning free, so I walked across the street from the hotel to watch the proceedings in the Assembly. For about 90 minutes I watched. It was educational. I left with a feeling that the legislative process was being carried out by cartoon characters.

Some of the characters, however, were missing, although their votes were regularly cast as the substitute Speaker (Willie Brown was elsewhere) slogged through the mass of bills on the day’s agenda.

As the Assembly organized itself for the day’s business, I watched the substitute Speaker cajole arrival of a quorum by repeatedly demanding that the sergeant-at-arms call offices of tardy legislators. They straggled in, by now a half-hour late, exchanging greetings as they strolled to their desks. I saw at least three of our elected representatives from my vantage point in the gallery, which hid about one-third of the floor, activate the electronic voting switch at their desks and then leave the floor.

Votes of these absent Assembly members were cast by their seatmate leaning over at the required moment and toggling the voting switch on their desk. I suppose this might have been in exchange for a reciprocal courtesy at some other time.

This absentee-voting practice makes the statistics in your article rather meaningless, at least for the Assembly. Numerous votes could have been recorded by the computer without the member ever being present, yet the member could exhibit an impeccable record. I did not spend sufficient time in the Senate to observe a vote. The senators were debating, with some concern, I thought, an auto safety bill.

C. CHESTER BRISCO

Tustin