Select committee on ‘stolen vote’ issues findings

The six-member panel selected to investigate the so-called stolen vote released a 10-page report Friday detailing its interim findings and the procedures it will use to look into the voting irregularities of Aug. 2.

The report outlined four areas of investigation, including an investigation of who is regularly on the Speaker’s dais and how their responsibilities relate to voting.

{mosads}The panel’s final report is due no later than Sept. 15, 2008.

The probe will dissect the voting process, from the use of electronic voting machines to the proper duration of a vote, to determine what went wrong the night the House melted down into partisan chaos following a vote on a Republican motion to recommit that was gaveled early and ended in an unclear tally.

The panel, formally named the Select Committee on Roll Call Vote Number 814 and led by Reps. Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.) and Mike Pence (R-Ind.), will use the information to recommend changes to the House voting system in an effort to rectify any lingering problems that could lead to another chaotic situation such as the one of Aug. 2.

House Clerk Lorraine Miller told the six members of the Select Committee on Roll Call Vote Number 814 that while the voting tally has not been located, the paper voting cards located in the well of the Speaker rostrum had been preserved for the investigation. The voting tally is a piece of paper with the final count that is passed to the chairman to be read for the official record.

The reason the tally is missing was not detailed Thursday, but that likely will be tackled as the committee’s work progresses.

The rancorous dispute of Aug. 2 arose over a vote on an amendment to the agriculture appropriations bill.

Rep. Michael McNulty (D-N.Y.), who was presiding in the Speaker’s chair during the vote, gaveled the Republican amendment closed when the voting tally reached a 214–214 deadlock, even though the electronic tally board in the chamber showed the amendment winning by a margin of 215-213 when he gaveled.

More than 100 Republicans stormed off the floor in protest.