Sen. Glenn Reese, D-Spartanburg, recently complained that mandatory roll-call voting, which came into effect in 2012, does not allow senators the kind of freedom to which they had long been accustomed. “The purpose [of roll-call voting] was to expose,” he remarked, “but what it did was kill legislation.” In other words: Rather than simply vote for an increase in the gas tax, lawmakers now have to worry that the vote is a matter of public record.
In another interview, he complained that roll-call voting made him feel like “a dog on a chain.” So mandatory roll-call voting, in addition to being inconvenient for state lawmakers, is also inhumane.
For a list of other reasons lawmakers had for resisting mandatory roll-call voting – together with research showing the need for recorded votes – click here.