The action of voting in the House of Representatives appears to be a straightforward process, but it is an activity steeped in parliamentary complexity. Largely, voting procedures in the House and the Committee of the Whole have evolved to become similar since the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 (LRA). The first purpose of this report is to discuss the two momentous changes in record voting procedures that the House included in the LRA and to analyze the evolution of rules, precedents, and practices on record voting procedures since that time. The Standards of Official Conduct Committee and the House Administration Committee as well as a select committee have been called on formally or informally to investigate some controversies. 17654 to authorize the development of an electronic voting system to record votes. Rules, precedents, and practices related to votes requiring a supermajority are not generally included in this report. Postponed and Clustered Votes/Five-Minute Votes

If a major procedural change of the LRA of 1970 was to allow record votes in the Committee of the Whole, thus increasing the opportunities to obtain a record vote, another important change to House rules since then has been to allow votes to be postponed and clustered and to allow voting time on clustered votes after the first 15-minute vote to be reduced to five minutes or even two minutes. He was also authorized to reduce to five minutes the duration of votes after the first 15-minute vote. The House also made three changes related to voting in other procedural situations. Second, the House amended Rule XXIII, cl. 5(b) the Speaker's authority to postpone votes. In his policy statement, the Speaker announced:
how the electronic voting system operated, and what information would be available on the consoles at the party tables; how Members were to use their Vote-ID Cards at the voting stations to cast, change, or check their votes or to register their presence on a quorum call; that the presiding officer would instruct Members to "record their presence or votes by means of the electronic device," and that this instruction would initiate a 15-minute voting period, with time on the summary displays decreasing to 0:00 minutes from 15:00 minutes; that Members could cast, change, or check their votes until the presiding officer "declare[d] the vote to be closed and announce[d] the final result"; that voting stations would remain open until the presiding officer "declare[d] the vote to be closed and announce[d] the final result," at which time the voting stations would be closed and the summary panel would indicate "FINAL"; how a Member without his or her Vote-ID Card could vote by picking up in a cloakroom or the well a green ("yea"), red ("no"), or amber ("present") ballot card, filling in his or her name, state, and district, and handing the card to the tally clerk, who would then enter the Member's vote and deactivate use of the Member's Vote-ID Card on that vote; how a Member may pair (see Pairs, below); and that the presiding officer in his or her discretion would determine that recorded votes or quorum calls be taken by another procedure than electronic device. Malfunction of Electronic Voting System . The parliamentarian's notes to the rules of the 106 th Congress (1999-2001) stated, "At the organization of the House, the Delegates and Resident Commissioner are sworn...; but the Clerk does not put them on the roll...."
In the 110 th Congress (2007-2009), a rules change again allowed Delegates and the Resident Commissioner to vote in the Committee of the Whole, with the possibility of an immediate revote in the House where their votes were decisive in the outcome of a question. There have also been four occasions where voting issues were elevated to investigations conducted on three occasions by the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct and on one occasion by the specially created Select Committee to Investigate the Voting Irregularities of August 2, 2007. Options for Addressing Issues Related to Record Voting

Electronic voting has been in use for 35 years in the House of Representatives. Members will be given a reasonable amount of time in which to accurately record their votes.
Record voting in the House of Representatives appears to be a straightforward process but is an activity steeped in parliamentary complexity. While this report analyzes the evolution of voting beginning with the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 (LRA), some House rules related to voting have existed since the First Congress. The House has had nearly 220 years of experience with voting that manifests itself in precedents relevant today.
The LRA contained two major departures related to record voting. First, it authorized development of an electronic voting system. Second, it allowed record votes in the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, the form in which the House usually operates to consider amendments to legislation.
Since the LRA's enactment, there have been notable developments in record voting procedures in the House. In general, the House through rules changes and precedents has limited votes that might be viewed as dilatory rather than substantive, and has expanded opportunities for votes that might be viewed as substantive. Changes in rules have also authorized the presiding officer to postpone and cluster votes and to reduce voting time to five minutes; largely ended pairing; and allowed Delegates and the Resident Commissioner to vote in the Committee of the Whole. Policy announcements by the Speaker and rulings by presiding officers have ended the correction of Members' votes; sought to limit the duration of votes; and dictated the manner by which Members may change a vote once cast.
Controversies have arisen on occasion. Some were related to the use of the electronic voting system, some to Members being able to cast or change a vote after the 15-minute minimum voting-time had expired. Others were related to a perception that a vote had been "held open" beyond a reasonable amount of time. Only a very few controversies have resulted in an investigation. The Standards of Official Conduct Committee has made three investigations. A select committee is currently investigating the manner by which a vote was ended.
Should the House wish to address rules, precedents, or practices, or the sources of particular controversies, it has a number of possible vehicles and potential options. Vehicles include House and party rules, the Speaker's policies, and administrative policies. Changes might be made to the electronic voting system, operations on the Speaker's dais, Members' ability to vote after the 15-minute minimum, and other aspects of voting in the House.
Complementary analyses to this report may be found in CRS Report RL34366, Electronic Voting System in the House of Representatives: History and Evolution, by [author name scrubbed], and CRS Report 98-396, Guide to Individuals Seated on the House Dais, by [author name scrubbed]. See also supplementary information at the CRS Congressional Processes website, /analysis/pages/congressionaloperations.aspx. This report will be updated after the Select Committee to Investigate the Voting Irregularities of August 2, 2007 issues its final report.