Tainted Vote?

Goat Hill has been all abuzz today about Tuesday's historic House-vote to remove the state-portion of the sales tax on food.

The bill, which is sponsored by Rep. John Knight, D-Montgomery, just eked out of the House with exactly 63 votes. That was the number needed for it to pass the House.

But how the House got to that magic number is creating much controversy because several of the legislators who voted "yes" weren't even in the chamber--nay not even in the country--when their votes were cast.

At least two House members are on a international trade mission, according to Gov. Bob Riley's Office.

The thing is, members of the State Legislature have a friendly agreement among each other, as one legislator put it.

If a member is absent, but wants to have his or her vote counted, he authorizes another legislator to vote on his or her behalf. The key is the House member has to authorize someone to vote for them.

Some say that agreement didn't happen before the final vote for the Knight Tax Plan.

In the House, a member can invoke Rule 32 to force members to vote on their own machines. Rep. Jack Williams, R-Birmingham, did so during the time that the House voted on the budget isolation resolution, or BIR.

After reaching an agreement with Knight, Williams rescinded the rule, which many believed helped the measure pass because legislators could vote for absent members.

Because of the questions about the voting, Rep. Robert Bentley, R-Tuscaloosa, attempted to bring the matter up for a re-vote, but couldn't get the necessary votes.

The Knight Plan is headed for the Senate.