Florida lawmakers caught on tape voting for absent colleagues

When the Florida Legislature is in session, you can watch representative Democracy at work. Every member of the Florida State House represents 140,000 Floridians.

Each member has one vote. Or should have one vote.

But on April 18th, Clearwater Representative Kimberly Berfield pushed the ?yes? button of hers, and three other representatives, on a bill she sponsored.

The bill passed.

Everywhere on the State House floor April 18th and 19th, you could see the empty seats of lawmakers who get credit for voting, because fellow members shuffle to push their buttons.

We showed this practice to a group of St. Petersburg mothers who make up an exercise class. Their jaws dropped, and their eyes widened, when they realized what their lawmakers are up to.

?I don't know how that's legal to punch all the people's buttons. I don't understand that at all,? says Christie Brunner. But it is legal according to House rules?.as long as a fellow representative gives verbal approval to the colleague casting their vote.

We took a tape to Political analyst Lars Hafner, who once served in the state house. Hafner says it's done to take away a campaign issue during a re-election bid. ?If they see you've missed an extraordinary amount of votes, that's certainly going to be reproduced in a campaign ad,? says Hafner.

Our group of St. Petersburg mothers noticed the nameplate on an empty chair during a vote. ?Frank Farkas is our representative, he's who I voted to put there, and he's not there to vote.? So we showed our tape to Representative Farkas.

?There are reasons why you can't always be at your desk,? says Farkas. He wasn't at his desk, but got credit for voting ?yes? on a bill that added protection to the oyster beds near Appalachicola. It was the only bill Farkas was not present for, during our three hours this day. But why should he or anyone else miss a single vote during a legislative session?

?We only have 60 days, many times we're pulled off because of issues that come up at the last second,? says Farkas. Farkas and other lawmakers say the 60-day session is so jam packed with work that they can't be on the House floor for every vote. Yet we were there when the grandson of Representative Stan Jordan took the House floor to sing ?Happy Birthday USA? on April 19th. The overall tribute to Florida's military took nearly one hour, of a six hour session.

And after the tribute ended more laws were passed, with the help of votes by lawmakers who were not even on the floor.

At the federal level, Senators and Congressmen aren't allowed to vote for a colleague who is not there. Your local city council member or county commissioner cannot use proxies either.

State House members are instructed as newcomers that the practice should be limited, and discrete.