Congressional Staff Report Says Remote Voting is “Technologically Feasible”

By Dane Gambrell

On November 10, 2020, the Committee on House Administration published a report detailing the findings from a feasibility study on the use of remote voting in the US House of Representatives. The report, issued by Chairperson Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), concludes “that operable and secure technology exists to permit the House to conduct remote voting, and that such a tool could be developed to further establish its flexibility and resiliency to operate during the pandemic.”

The study was initiated as a result of House Resolution 965, which passed in May. This legislation authorized the House to conduct remote committee proceedings and voting by proxy — meaning that members can delegate a colleague present on the floor to vote on their behalf — during the pandemic, and also called on the Committee on House Administration to study the feasibility of remote voting.

As part of the study, the Committee on House Administration convened a hearing in July with “experts from the public sector, private sector, intelligence community, and academia” to develop a framework for evaluating the security and reliability of a potential remote voting system.

The Committee also studied remote voting procedures that are already in place in US state legislatures. In Vermont, for instance, both chambers of the General Assembly approved measures in April that allow them to vote remotely as long as the state remains in a state of emergency. Members of the House may cast votes via an electronic voting system which is also used for its emergency communications. Senators have the option to join sessions and vote in-person or via Zoom video conferencing software.

The report also details remote voting methods implemented by the national legislatures of other countries. In the United Kingdom, for instance, the House of Commons trialed a “hybrid Parliament” in April and May, where some members were present in the chamber while others joined via Zoom video conferencing software. Parliament voted to end the virtual option for most members in June, but has allowed MPs who are unable to participate in person for medical or public health reasons related to the pandemic to participate virtually for a limited set of proceedings and to vote by proxy. The change in rules took effect in June and was recently extended through March 2021.

Notably, the report does not try to address the constitutionality of remote voting, a debate which has divided US lawmakers along party lines for months. While Democrats have steadily pushed for expanding proxy voting and remote voting during the pandemic, Republicans have accused Democrats of staging an unconstitutional power grab.

By confirming the technological feasibility of remote voting, the Committee has taken a step closer to putting in place the infrastructure needed to continue legislative operations in a disaster. As COVID-19 cases skyrocket across the country, there is an urgent need for Congress to prepare for the possibility that in-person meetings will again become unfeasible.

To be sure, there are still concerns about how to do remote voting securely, efficiently and effectively. But US lawmakers should look at how legislatures around the world have successfully used new technology to convene, deliberate and vote from a distance to learn how to design the right technology and procedures to ensure they will be able to continue operating regardless of what the pandemic has in store.

This post is part of a series on the Continuity of Legislatures. Find the whole series here.

Photo Source: Louis Velazquez