WASHINGTON, D.C. — With uncertainty looming over how long the coronavirus pandemic will last, and thus uncertainty over how long social distancing will need to be practiced, members of both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate on both sides of the aisle have begun a push to pass legislation that would allow members of Congress to vote remotely.
In the Senate, Democrat Dick Durbin of Illinois and Ohio Republican Rob Portman have rolled out a bipartisan resolution to amend the Standing Rules of the Senate to give the Senate Majority and Minority Leaders joint authority to make remote voting possible in the case of crisis.
“It just makes sense,” said Durbin.
“Fact of the matter is, our meetings of the Senate, almost every single day, have violated CDC guidelines that tell us not to gather in groups of 10 or more.”
Remote voting would be allowed for 30 days after Majority and Minority Leader approval, and then the Senate would have to vote to extend remote voting every 30 days thereafter.
“We can find a better way to do this in the 21st century, using the technology that is available,” Durbin added.
House Rules Chairman Jim McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, has proposed a similar piece of legislation.
McGovern’s letter to colleagues noted Article I of the U.S. Constitution mandates assembly, but also gives each Congressional house the right to make its own rules.
Illinois 18th District Republican Rep. Darin LaHood said he’s in favor.
“We need to put it in place for times like this, when we have emergencies and national tragedies,” he said.
“It doesn’t mean we should repeatedly use it, but we should definitely have in place an option for members of Congress to vote remotely, because there are going to be times when we need to spontaneously react as a country.
“With technology and the modernization of systems we have in place, we ought to be able to do that. We do that in lots of other things.”
For the House to allow remote voting, current rules would have to be amended.
Rule XX, Voting and Quorum Rules, for example, would need to define how a remote quorum would be determined.
