The U.S. Congress and remote voting - prospective repercussions
Opinion Policy Analysis by Tala Al Otaibi, Staff Writer
June 16th, 2020
The Constitution of the United States is considered to be the supreme law in the country. The establishment of the Constitution in 1787 put forth the ways in which the government must operate. The First Article of the Constitution established the Congress as one of the three branches of federal government. Further to establishing the body of Congress itself, however, the Constitution provided guidelines as to how the Congress must function and with what framework. Congress has always consisted of two bodies, namely the Senate and the House of Representatives. Over the years since its establishment, Congress has only shifted in terms of its role in relation to the other governmental bodies. Besides that, operation has always remained the way the Constitution laid them down to be. Part of the operation of Congress, of course, includes legislation which is inclusive to the voting procedure on proposed legislation.
No matter which state they come from, all Congress members meet in Capitol Hill in Washington, where meetings and voting procedures take place. As stated by the Constitution, Congress has a total of 535 voting members, 100 in the Senate and 435 in the House of Representatives. The Constitution established the Congress as the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. What this entails is that Congress members, whether in the Senate or in the House, are required to draft bills and pass them as laws through extended voting procedures.
Bill procedure within Congress is quite complex, nevertheless. A proposed bill is required to go through several stages before it can be passed. Among these stages is the consideration done by special committees and advice taken from other governmental bodies. Furthermore, public hearings may be called for in order to discuss bills that require further background, investigation, or insight. In addition, bills can be amended when taken into the standing committees of either the Senate or the House. At any stage, a bill may be tabled or rejected, yet once a bill reaches the floor of a house, a debate must occur. Voting on a bill only occurs once all the stages prior to the vote have been completed.
With the outbreak of the current pandemic, many Congress operations were halted.
It became very difficult for lawmakers to gather together in Capitol Hill as they needed to take serious safety measures, with general mobilization measures, cross-state transportation limited, amongst other hindrances. With such an extensive battle against the virus, a crucial body as Congress cannot afford, and does not have the right to, remain absent. The nation needs Congress members to be present in order to manage the use of funds, to prepare response legislation to the pandemic, and to continue everyday legislation. Governmental officials began to consider conducting Congressional business virtually given that modern technology is more than capable of making that happen. At the end of March, Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, stated that there are “serious constitutional, technological, and security concerns” regarding the move into virtual operations. Pelosi believed that they may have no other option but that they needed to be fully prepared for it in order to avoid security concerns and ensure that voting was not tampered with in any way.
Over a month later in May, the House of Representatives approved the temporary move to virtual operation. Voting was to be done remotely and hearings were to be conducted virtually. The process by which this will be done is still being studied at the moment. However, the expectation is that lawmakers will be able to vote from the comfort of their own home using either a secure online portal or through a video conferencing system. Given the complex system of legislation within Congress, it is arguably expected that the procedure will most definitely not work the same way. While procedures may progress, hearings and discussions may not be as efficient nor orthodic as they normally would be. Nevertheless, the online move is most definitely an important step that was needed to be taken during these drastic times. Furthermore, this also brings about a critical question; how will these debates occur given the political party systems within Congress? Within each chamber, there is a majority and a minority. Will one have more power over the other? Will the minority be silenced when they need to be heard the most? How efficient would the system be in terms of voicing important concerns during debate?
Another issue worth mentioning is the strength of the online system itself. How secure can it actually be? Not only is there a concern in terms of outsiders hacking the system and tampering with votes, but the concern should also lie with the possibility of Congress members tampering with votes themselves. This way, members can ensure that the bill they are in favor for will pass and the bill they are against will fail.
Before implementing the system, Congress needs to address these issues in the best way they can. After all, the Constitution called for in-person voting of all members at once for a reason. Even then, there would be instances where members questioned the legitimacy of the vote. Imagine what could happen during online voting procedures.