House  .    .     .       .      .      .   No. 5034

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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REPORT OF THE SPECIAL HOUSE COMMITTEE

 ESTABLISHED TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS

 FOR THE INSTALLATION OF

 A SECURE ROLL CALL SYSTEM

 FOR THE HOUSE OF REPRESNETATIVES

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[Authorized under the provisions

 of House order No. 4719

 and time for reporting extended

 by House order No. 4997.]

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JULY 30, 2008

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House  .    .     .       .      .      .   No. 5034

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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                                                    July 30, 2008.

On May 2, 2008 at the direction of House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, the House of Representatives adopted an Order to appoint a special committee to make recommendations for the installation of a secure roll call system.

The committee met on several occasions to discuss various options.

The committee recommends that a member’s ability to cast a vote on the electronic voting system shall be authorized by electronic identification system activation at each member’s desk in the House Chamber by use of an identification card unique to that member.  The committee recommends that the sharing of identification cards for the purpose of voting be strictly prohibited and be considered a violation of the code of ethics for all persons involved in such activity.

To assure the accuracy of the recording of a member’s vote, after verifying the accuracy of his/her vote, the committee recommends that a member should have the ability to, prior to leaving the vicinity of his/her desk, lock his or her voting station by use of the voting identification card.

Additionally, the committee recommends that a member who will be absent from the House for a formal session period of a day or longer be required to notify the Clerk in writing of the intended absence.  If a member intends to be absent during a formal session for an extended period or for the remainder of the session, the committee recommends that the member be required to notify the Clerk in person, and that the Clerk provide a written notice to any such member as a record of notification.

As a further safeguard, the committee recommends that the Clerk be directed to disable the voting station of any member notifying him of an absence, as required under the provisions of the previous paragraph.   Members shall notify the Clerk, in person, in order to activate his/her voting station for subsequent roll calls.

Finally, the committee recommends that the current practice of allowing court officers to cast votes for disabled member under Rule 49 be changed so that the Clerk will cast such votes.  This change is necessitated because casting a vote at the desk of a member may only be authorized by activation of member’s voting identification card.

            Respectfully submitted,

Representative Angelo M. Scaccia of Boston, chairman, House Committee on Rules

Representative Geoffrey D. Hall of Westford, chairman, House Committee on Post Audit and Oversight

Representative Patricia A. Walrath of Stow, House chairwoman, Joint Committee on Health Care Financing

Representative Mary S. Rogeness of Longmeadow, Assistant Minority Leader

Representative John A. Lepper of Attleboro, Third Assistant Minority Leader

Representative F. Jay Barrows of Mansfield

Steven T. James, Clerk, House of Representatives

Louis A. Rizoli, Chief Legal Counsel, House of Representatives

Richard B. Arscott, Chief Information Officer for the General Court