« Law - Copy of Court's Ruling Dismissing Most Serious Charge in Martha Stewart Case | Main | Environment - Consultant to the oil industry predicts demand for oil will fall »
Saturday, February 28, 2004
Indiana Law - Star Opines that Officials Should be Present to Vote
This strong editorial today in the Indianapolis Star begins: "Our position is: There is no substitute for public officials being physically present at meetings where they cast a vote." More:
In this era of broadband, high-definition, surround-sound communication, technology exists to allow a public official to see and be seen, hear or be heard from the confines of home or the green on the seventh hole of the golf course. Simply because such capability exists, however, does not mean it should be employed.More than a decade ago, Congress considered allowing members of the U.S. House of Representatives to engage in remote voting in some instances. Former House Speaker Tom Foley, D-Wash., objected. "The very word 'Congress' means coming together," he argued. "We have modern electronic technology that can video conference, that can probably set up security procedures that would correctly and relatively carefully identify a member from wherever he is in the world, not only in his home district. But to create that kind of fractionated membership that never has the opportunity, except in these electronic voting processes or in some kind of brief electronic conference, to come together to meet, to talk, to debate, to interact, to persuade -- that is the whole idea of the legislative body."
The same is true for any public body, from a local school board to the General Assembly. Virtual representation is not the real thing. And it shouldn't be accepted as such. The General Assembly needs to head off this trend -- in its own operations and for all public bodies in Indiana.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 28, 2004 07:52 AM
Posted to Indiana Law