Phantom voting is when a legislator casts a vote without being present in the voting chamber. It can occur through pushing another lawmaker’s vote button or remotely manipulating their own. Some suggest legalizing it for regulation, but it can also be used for electoral fraud.
Phantom voting is a practice in which a member of a legislative assembly casts a vote without being present in the voting chamber. While it may seem impossible to vote without being present, there are actually a number of ways ghost voting can occur, and the practice is actually quite widespread. In some cases, it’s such a common practice that law reformers have suggested specifically banning the practice to end it, or legalizing it so it can be regulated.
In a classic example of ghost voting, one lawmaker might agree to push another lawmaker’s vote button when an important vote comes before the house. The absent legislator would then register a vote on the issue while being able to deal with other matters. Members of the same party often agree to cast ghost votes for each other, and in some cases, members of opposing parties have even cast votes against the absentee legislator’s beliefs.
Lawmakers can also sometimes manipulate their voting buttons to be activated remotely, allowing them to activate the buttons when they see that a request to vote has come in. This allows lawmakers to go home when debate extends into the wee hours of the morning or to deal with constitutional matters in the office while voting continues in the legislature.
Some people argue that if ghost voting were legalized, it could be regulated, and that there are some benefits. For example, a legislator might respond to an emergency at home while still serving voters in the legislative chamber. Codifying this type of vote would also mean lawmakers would have no excuse for losing a vote, thus eliminating a common political gimmick where a politician simply doesn’t show up for a controversial vote.
The term “phantom vote” is also used in reference to electoral fraud. In this case it is a question of inserting a non-existent voter into the electoral roll with the aim of altering the outcome of an election. Phantom voters are often dead, double-registered, or otherwise ineligible to vote. Many nations have taken steps to prevent this practice, using various techniques to check electoral rolls before an election to make sure all listed voters are valid, but it can be difficult.
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