SACRAMENTO (AP) — The California Assembly narrowly passed a proposal on Wednesday that would allow state legislators to vote remotely during emergencies, as lawmakers widely regretted not being able to act during a weeks-long recess amid the pandemic.
The state Senate has until June 25 to approve the proposed constitutional amendment for remote voting by two-thirds vote in order to place it on the November ballot, where voters would have the final say.
He said that while lawmakers always prefer to do business on the Assembly floor, he agreed they need to prepare for natural disasters or foreign attacks that could shut down state government.
But some Republicans who opposed the bill said it should be narrowly tailored to only allow lawmakers to cast a vote remotely, not permit them to use someone else as a proxy vote in the event they cannot attend a session themselves during an emergency.
Mullin said that if the constitutional amendment is approved, the Assembly and Senate would need to finalize provisions that define how remote voting would work, including whether to allow proxy votes.
