Senate vote tally. (RI file photo)
The technology that helps tally the votes in the Iowa Senate tanked this week.
Lawmakers typically push a green or red button on their desk to vote yes or no. That speedy system got real sluggish Wednesday afternoon. “We are having technical difficulties,” Senate President Amy Sinclair announced.
There was a reboot. “We’re going to try it,” she said.
“It” still didn’t work, so Charlie Smithson, the secretary of the senate, had to read each senator’s name. Each senator had to say their vote aloud and Smithson punched those votes in from his desk in the center of the senate.
A thumbs up or thumbs down from a senator didn’t work.
“I can’t hear your thumb,” Smithson said.
At one point, Sinclair had to remind senators not to use the buttons on their desk to vote. “Everything is moving so slowly, when you push your buttons it crashes the system up here, so we need to you to leave your fingers off the buttons,” Sinclair said, as some senators laughed. “Don’t be kindergarteners…Let the secretary call the roll so the system doesn’t crash and we can get through debate.”
Senators got through debate on a dozen bills Wednesday and Thursday by individually announcing their votes rather than punching their buttons. Lawmakers hope the glitch is fixed next week for a flurry of votes — in what could be the last week of the 2023 legislative session.