US Congress members vote on important issues, with over 280,000 votes cast in 2014 alone. Between 2011 and 2014, they accidentally voted wrong at least 120 times, but the error rate is less than 1%. The causes of errors are unknown but may be due to equipment misuse, wording, or fast voting. Congressmen use an electronic voting machine invented by Thomas Edison, and the majority of errors occur during voting on amendments. Senators can change their vote after completion, as long as it doesn’t affect the outcome.
Members of the United States Congress vote on a variety of issues, some of which are of significant importance to government policy. For example, the 113th US Congress (2014) voted out of 929 entries. The House of Representatives had 441 members and the Senate had 100 members in 2014. This means that at least 280,000 votes were cast in the US Congress in 2014 alone. But do members of Congress ever accidentally vote wrong? It turns out that yes, they do. In fact, between 2011 and 2014, US congressmen accidentally cast the wrong vote at least 120 times.
This fact emerged from research by Harper’s and the New York Times in 2014. Although the research seems alarming, considering the total number of votes cast in Congress during this time period, the error rate is less than 1%. Surprisingly, members of Congress often admit their mistakes because they clarify their position on an issue. While the exact causes of the errors are not known, they may be due to equipment misuse, the wording of the amendment or bill, or simply fast voting rounds.
US Congressmen cast their votes using an electronic voting machine. The process involves the congressman inserting his card into the machine and then making a selection between “yes,” “no” or “present” by pressing a button.
Read more about voting in the US Congress:
The voting machine used by US congressmen was invented by Thomas Edison.
The majority of voting errors in the US Congress (67%) occur during the voting on amendments.
Unlike members of the House of Representatives, Senators can change their vote after the vote has been completed, as long as it doesn’t affect the outcome.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
