Some California lawmakers allowed to vote remotely
Citing the threat of coronavirus, both houses of the California Legislature plan to allow some members at higher risk for COVID-19 to weigh in on pending bills from home when the Legislature reconvenes in Sacramento next week, a change in the rules that has drawn criticism from some current and former lawmakers.
Under a proposal announced Thursday by Assembly leadership, a small number of members — expected to be around 10 lawmakers — would call in their votes to the chief clerk the day before a floor session. One of the house’s four top leaders would then cast a proxy vote on the floor for the absent legislator.
The plan is intended to help lawmakers most vulnerable to serious risks from coronavirus, including those over age 65 and members with underlying health conditions, officials said.
“Given a spike in COVID-19 cases across the state, the Assembly is obliged to pursue safety with more stringent measures,” Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, said in a statement. “As a result, we will implement very limited proxy voting for floor sessions to allow our most vulnerable members to participate without being physically present on the Assembly floor.”
A resolution enacting limited proxy voting will be introduced next week when the Assembly returns from a two-week break taken after two legislators and several staff members tested positive for COVID-19. California this week became the state with the most coronavirus cases in the U.S.
Leaders of the state Senate have decided to allow some members to vote remotely on bills in committee, but not on the Senate floor, according to Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego.
“As California continues making our way through this pandemic, the Legislature has to keep exploring ways to conduct the people’s business safely and in keeping with our Constitution,” Atkins said Thursday.
She said the Senate has been testing a framework for remote voting since March in case it became needed.
Sam Blakeslee, vice chairman of the open-government group California Common Cause and a former Republican legislator who served as Assembly Republican leader in 2009 and 2010, called the Assembly proposal for proxy voting “very disturbing” and said he believed it was illegal.
“I am a little shocked to hear that the Assembly is even considering the idea of proxy voting,” Blakeslee said. “There is no provision in the (State) Constitution where the right and duty to vote can be delegated to another person.”
Blakeslee said proxy voting could lead to abuses, with lobbyists and special interests attempting to sway votes out of public view.
Assembly Republican floor leader Heath Flora of Ripon said he supports the new process as a temporary measure for “helping elected members who are vulnerable to COVID-19 still be able to represent their constituents in the Legislature,” but added “we hope that this emergency process is not taken advantage of for other political purposes.”