Immigration Vote Miscounted

The American Conservative Union Foundation

by Mike Pence
Issue 117 - October 8, 2008

As Members of Congress, we do a lot of things in the House of Representatives – we attend hearings, we help constituents with various problems, we conduct oversight, we debate the pressing issues of the day, but the most important thing we do is vote on behalf of the people we were elected to serve.

This Select Committee was charged with the solemn duty of investigating what happened on the night of August 2, 2007, when a vote on the Republican motion to recommit the Agriculture Appropriations bill went awry. The vote was controversial; it would have amended the bill to deny taxpayer-funded benefits from being received by illegal immigrants. The vote was close. And, as this Select Committee found, the Republicans were right, the vote was wrong.

The report that we are about to adopt states:

There may be a disagreement about what should be the final vote tally, but one fact is indisputable: the vote tally of 212 yeas and 216 nays that was finally announced is incorrect. It is either 215 yeas and 213 nays, which would have reflected the tally at the time the Chair prematurely announced the statement of result, or 211 yeas and 217 nays, which would have reflected the tally had Mr. Boehner’s well card been processed.
The report goes on to find that when the Speaker pro tempore, Rep. Mike McNulty, called the vote for a second time at 214-214 – when the actual vote tally was 215-213 according to the Electronic Voting System and all votes cast at that time – that it would have been just as reasonable for him to stop right there and re-announce the vote with the then correct tally of 215-213 as what he did, which was hold the vote open. If he had followed this parliamentary route, the Republicans would have won the vote.

He did not, however, and the vote was held open for approximately seven additional minutes. At the end of that time, the vote total was announced as 212-216, with the Republicans losing. During the time the vote was held open, the Republican Leader submitted a well card to change his vote, but this vote change was not processed by the professional staff on the rostrum. For a Member of Congress not to have a cast vote counted correctly is a very serious matter, and it will forever be a black mark on the 110th Congress.

In testimony received by this Select Committee, we heard from numerous witnesses that they had never seen a vote closed without a tally slip. The tally slip, of course, is the piece of paper containing the final vote tally that is passed from the tally clerks to the Parliamentarian to the Presiding Officer for announcement. It is the confirmation that all votes have been properly input and recorded in the Electronic Voting System.

Mr. McNulty did not use a tally slip in calling Roll Call 814. This is the first documented instance in recent history of the House of this happening. The failure to use a tally slip caused not only great confusion and chaos in the House, but also an inaccurate result to be announced.

Clearly this vote was wrong. It was incorrect in its final tally. It could have been called at 215-213. No tally slip was used. And, adding to all of this was the Majority Leader and his actions during the vote.

The Majority Leader acknowledged yelling at Mr. McNulty and others on the rostrum to shut down the vote after the Speaker voted and caused the tally to reach 214-214. He acknowledged directing his anger to the Parliamentarian, saying “We control this House, not the Parliamentarians,â€