WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.700 So picture this. It's 1855. Right. And the United 00:00:03.700 --> 00:00:07.120 States House of Representatives, they they need 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:09.939 to pick a leader, just single leader. Which should 00:00:09.939 --> 00:00:12.220 be straightforward. You'd think. But they ended 00:00:12.220 --> 00:00:14.419 up voting one hundred and thirty three times. 00:00:14.419 --> 00:00:17.600 Yeah. The chamber was completely deadlocked for 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:21.140 weeks. I mean, today we're taking a look at the 00:00:21.140 --> 00:00:24.179 actual plumbing of democracy. Welcome to the 00:00:24.179 --> 00:00:27.280 deep dive. We are talking about the mechanics 00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:30.559 of voting in deliberative assemblies. It really 00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:33.039 is the foundation, isn't it, of how groups make 00:00:33.039 --> 00:00:36.759 official decisions. Yet the actual rules governing 00:00:36.759 --> 00:00:39.039 that process, they are entirely constructed. 00:00:39.800 --> 00:00:41.979 Completely manmade. And constantly shifting, 00:00:42.100 --> 00:00:44.159 too. Exactly. I mean, we usually just accept 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:46.060 that a vote happens, but the machinery behind 00:00:46.060 --> 00:00:48.600 it, that dictates everything. It really does. 00:00:48.659 --> 00:00:50.240 And we're pulling from a single comprehensive 00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:52.159 source for you today. It's a really detailed 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:55.799 Wikipedia article titled Voting Methods in Deliberative 00:00:55.799 --> 00:00:58.719 Assemblies. And the history here is just wild. 00:00:58.859 --> 00:01:00.539 Oh, absolutely. I mean, Thomas Edison actually 00:01:00.539 --> 00:01:03.780 tried to automate Congress in 1869. He did. And 00:01:03.780 --> 00:01:05.760 he got completely shut down. Which is such a 00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:07.840 great story. But yeah, the mission for our deep 00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:10.659 dive today is to explore exactly how groups arrive 00:01:10.659 --> 00:01:13.099 at decisions. We're going to trace the evolution 00:01:13.099 --> 00:01:18.200 of voting from... ancient Roman wax tablets to 00:01:18.200 --> 00:01:21.019 the physical voting lobbies of the British Parliament 00:01:21.019 --> 00:01:23.719 and right up to the electronic scoreboards of 00:01:23.719 --> 00:01:26.480 modern legislatures. Because when you look at 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:28.900 this history, it becomes very clear that the 00:01:28.900 --> 00:01:32.239 method of voting, the actual how, is just as 00:01:32.239 --> 00:01:35.099 crucial as the vote itself. It really is. So 00:01:35.099 --> 00:01:36.959 let's get right into the foundational mechanics. 00:01:37.299 --> 00:01:39.379 If we look at Robert's Rules of Order, which 00:01:39.379 --> 00:01:42.780 is often called RNR. Right. The Baseline Manual 00:01:42.780 --> 00:01:45.469 for Parliamentary Procedure. Yeah, exactly. It 00:01:45.469 --> 00:01:47.209 defines what it calls the regular methods of 00:01:47.209 --> 00:01:49.390 voting. And the absolute most common is the voice 00:01:49.390 --> 00:01:52.590 vote or viva voce. It's the simplest and the 00:01:52.590 --> 00:01:54.829 fastest method available to any assembly. The 00:01:54.829 --> 00:01:57.150 chair basically just asks those in favor of a 00:01:57.150 --> 00:01:59.950 motion to say aye, asks those opposed to say 00:01:59.950 --> 00:02:02.989 no. They literally just listen. They just listen. 00:02:03.310 --> 00:02:05.849 They estimate which side was louder in the room. 00:02:06.090 --> 00:02:08.889 And it's exclusively used for standard motions 00:02:08.889 --> 00:02:11.810 that only require a simple majority rule to pass. 00:02:12.280 --> 00:02:16.099 But relying on who has the loudest voice seems, 00:02:16.300 --> 00:02:19.039 I don't know, incredibly flawed. Like a small 00:02:19.039 --> 00:02:21.340 group of people just yelling from their diaphragms 00:02:21.340 --> 00:02:23.699 could easily drown out a larger group of quiet 00:02:23.699 --> 00:02:26.060 people. Oh, for sure. So what happens when the 00:02:26.060 --> 00:02:28.979 chair just can't tell or gets it wrong? Well, 00:02:29.020 --> 00:02:31.719 that's exactly when you move to the second regular 00:02:31.719 --> 00:02:34.360 method, which is the rising vote. It's officially 00:02:34.360 --> 00:02:37.360 called a division of the assembly. OK. If the 00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:40.509 voice vote is inconclusive. Or really, if any 00:02:40.509 --> 00:02:42.750 member of the assembly formally challenges the 00:02:42.750 --> 00:02:44.930 chair's acoustic estimate by demanding a division, 00:02:45.270 --> 00:02:48.009 members have to physically stand up to be counted. 00:02:48.210 --> 00:02:50.289 Which changes the dynamic of the room completely. 00:02:50.550 --> 00:02:52.610 Totally. You go from hiding in this collective 00:02:52.610 --> 00:02:55.889 chorus of voices to physically exposing your 00:02:55.889 --> 00:02:58.509 individual stance to everyone around you. Precisely. 00:02:58.530 --> 00:03:01.250 And that's why a rising vote is also the mandatory 00:03:01.250 --> 00:03:04.090 standard method for any motion that requires 00:03:04.090 --> 00:03:06.210 a two -thirds majority. Because you need the 00:03:06.210 --> 00:03:09.699 math to be exact. Right. threshold is that high, 00:03:09.860 --> 00:03:13.639 you need absolute mathematical clarity, not a 00:03:13.639 --> 00:03:16.259 general auditory vibe. The chair can visually 00:03:16.259 --> 00:03:19.240 assess the standing groups or they can order 00:03:19.240 --> 00:03:22.060 a strict numerical count. There's also this ceremonial 00:03:22.060 --> 00:03:24.199 aspect to the rising vote that is really striking. 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:27.319 Like when an assembly passes a resolution honoring 00:03:27.319 --> 00:03:30.379 a notable person or maybe memorializing someone 00:03:30.379 --> 00:03:33.219 who has passed away, the members will stand together. 00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:36.060 Yes, that's a great point. The physical act of 00:03:36.060 --> 00:03:39.460 rising lends this bodily weight of respect to 00:03:39.460 --> 00:03:42.280 the motion. It transforms a procedural check 00:03:42.280 --> 00:03:45.520 into a unified expression of consensus. It's 00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:48.939 a powerful visual tradition. And then rounding 00:03:48.939 --> 00:03:51.199 out these basic methods, you have the show of 00:03:51.199 --> 00:03:52.919 hands. Which you see all the time in smaller 00:03:52.919 --> 00:03:54.759 settings. Like if you serve on a neighborhood 00:03:54.759 --> 00:03:57.139 association or a corporate board, maybe a local 00:03:57.139 --> 00:03:59.919 PTA, you've used a show of hands. You definitely 00:03:59.919 --> 00:04:02.639 have. It's slower than a voice vote, but far 00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:04.949 more precise. It removes. the acoustic advantage 00:04:04.949 --> 00:04:08.250 entirely. The chair visually assesses or individually 00:04:08.250 --> 00:04:10.689 counts the raised hands. Every vote is weighted 00:04:10.689 --> 00:04:13.310 equally regardless of volume. But mathematically, 00:04:13.750 --> 00:04:17.290 a show of hands behaves very differently than 00:04:17.290 --> 00:04:20.709 a rising vote. It's actually not considered a 00:04:20.709 --> 00:04:23.629 full division of the assembly. And oddly enough, 00:04:23.769 --> 00:04:26.949 it tends to produce a significantly higher number 00:04:26.949 --> 00:04:30.620 of abstentions than a rising vote. Really? Why 00:04:30.620 --> 00:04:33.060 do you think that is? Is it just laziness or 00:04:33.060 --> 00:04:35.279 something deeper? It's likely psychological. 00:04:36.139 --> 00:04:38.860 Raising a hand is a half measure. It's much less 00:04:38.860 --> 00:04:41.379 physically committal than hauling yourself completely 00:04:41.379 --> 00:04:43.339 out of your chair and standing tall for everyone 00:04:43.339 --> 00:04:45.180 to see. Yeah, that makes sense. When the physical 00:04:45.180 --> 00:04:47.879 barrier to voting is lowered just slightly, the 00:04:47.879 --> 00:04:50.279 psychological barrier to abstaining drops even 00:04:50.279 --> 00:04:53.300 further. It's easier to keep your hand down than 00:04:53.300 --> 00:04:55.420 to remain seated while the rest of the room stands. 00:04:55.779 --> 00:04:58.329 Wow. If you think about your own experiences 00:04:58.329 --> 00:05:01.889 in those boardrooms or PTA meetings, these regular 00:05:01.889 --> 00:05:03.829 methods are built purely for speed and efficiency, 00:05:04.209 --> 00:05:06.970 but they share one massive structural trait. 00:05:07.149 --> 00:05:10.050 They leave almost no paper trail. They are essentially 00:05:10.050 --> 00:05:12.209 unrecorded. That is the critical tradeoff you 00:05:12.209 --> 00:05:14.750 have to understand. A voice vote, a rising vote, 00:05:14.910 --> 00:05:17.730 or a show of hands. They prioritize keeping the 00:05:17.730 --> 00:05:20.360 meeting moving over strict accountability. There 00:05:20.360 --> 00:05:23.480 is no permanent public record detailing exactly 00:05:23.480 --> 00:05:27.019 how John Doe or Jane Smith voted. For a private 00:05:27.019 --> 00:05:30.319 club, efficiency is perfectly fine. But when 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:32.480 you apply that to elected representatives making 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:35.620 laws, that lack of a record becomes a severe 00:05:35.620 --> 00:05:38.230 Democratic vulnerability. And that brings us 00:05:38.230 --> 00:05:40.649 to the massive evolution in parliamentary procedure, 00:05:40.870 --> 00:05:43.529 the recorded vote. Yes. This is commonly known 00:05:43.529 --> 00:05:46.149 as the roll call or taking the yeas and nays. 00:05:46.230 --> 00:05:49.310 The entire purpose of the recorded vote is representative 00:05:49.310 --> 00:05:52.810 accountability. Roberts Rules explicitly states 00:05:52.810 --> 00:05:55.389 that taking a vote by roll call places on the 00:05:55.389 --> 00:05:57.829 public record exactly how every single member 00:05:57.829 --> 00:06:01.410 or sometimes each delegation. So it's not a secret 00:06:01.410 --> 00:06:04.329 anymore. Not at all. This method is almost exclusively 00:06:04.329 --> 00:06:06.730 confined to representative bodies where the proceedings 00:06:06.730 --> 00:06:08.790 are published. It lets you, the constituent, 00:06:08.790 --> 00:06:10.949 check their work. You can look up the official 00:06:10.949 --> 00:06:13.370 journal and know with absolute certainty where 00:06:13.370 --> 00:06:15.810 your representative stood on a specific tax bill 00:06:15.810 --> 00:06:18.930 or zoning law. Exactly. Interestingly, the parliamentary 00:06:18.930 --> 00:06:21.370 guidelines specifically say you shouldn't use 00:06:21.370 --> 00:06:23.910 a roll call in a mass meeting where members aren't 00:06:23.910 --> 00:06:26.899 responsible to a broader constituency. Right, 00:06:26.920 --> 00:06:29.439 because doing so defeats the entire purpose of 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:32.459 a secret ballot. It forcefully drags everyone's 00:06:32.459 --> 00:06:34.779 personal choice into the open. Accountability 00:06:34.779 --> 00:06:37.579 requires visibility. But visibility slows the 00:06:37.579 --> 00:06:40.319 machinery down. It really does. Especially when 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:42.699 a simple majority is required to elect an officer, 00:06:42.899 --> 00:06:46.060 but no one can seem to achieve it. Oh, this is 00:06:46.060 --> 00:06:49.620 where the dry mechanics of voting violently collide 00:06:49.620 --> 00:06:51.899 with human stubbornness. It gets messy. Very. 00:06:52.329 --> 00:06:54.509 Let's look at how assemblies elect officers. 00:06:54.930 --> 00:06:58.389 In the absence of a special rule, a simple plurality, 00:06:58.389 --> 00:07:00.810 meaning just getting more votes than your opponents, 00:07:00.970 --> 00:07:03.269 isn't enough. You need a true majority. Yes. 00:07:03.370 --> 00:07:06.769 If no single candidate hits that threshold, the 00:07:06.769 --> 00:07:09.370 vote is technically of no effect. It's as if 00:07:09.370 --> 00:07:11.209 it never happened and the assembly just has to 00:07:11.209 --> 00:07:12.930 vote again. And this is where Robert's Rules 00:07:12.930 --> 00:07:15.290 introduces a fascinating quirk regarding group 00:07:15.290 --> 00:07:18.370 psychology. Unlike modern instant runoff voting, 00:07:18.509 --> 00:07:20.250 where you automatically eliminate the person 00:07:20.250 --> 00:07:22.449 in last place after each round, the standard 00:07:22.449 --> 00:07:25.149 rules advise strongly against dropping the lowest 00:07:25.149 --> 00:07:27.550 performing candidates between ballots. But wait, 00:07:27.649 --> 00:07:29.350 doesn't that just guarantee the process will 00:07:29.350 --> 00:07:32.209 drag on forever? Why wouldn't you want to trim 00:07:32.209 --> 00:07:34.750 the fat and force the room to make a decision? 00:07:35.110 --> 00:07:37.230 Because of the center squeeze effect? The center 00:07:37.230 --> 00:07:39.209 squeeze? Yeah. The candidate currently sitting 00:07:39.209 --> 00:07:41.589 in last place might actually be the ultimate 00:07:41.589 --> 00:07:44.129 dark horse compromise. Okay, walk me through 00:07:44.129 --> 00:07:47.120 that. Picture a room bitterly divided between 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:51.980 two extreme, stubborn factions. Neither side 00:07:51.980 --> 00:07:54.319 will ever concede and vote for the other's preferred 00:07:54.319 --> 00:07:56.680 leader. Right, they're deadlocked. But that one 00:07:56.680 --> 00:07:59.019 candidate hovering at the bottom of the tally 00:07:59.019 --> 00:08:01.779 with a handful of votes, they might be the only 00:08:01.779 --> 00:08:04.540 person in the room that both factions can eventually 00:08:04.540 --> 00:08:08.019 tolerate once exhaustion sets in. Oh, wow. If 00:08:08.019 --> 00:08:10.000 you automatically eliminate the lowest vote getter, 00:08:10.040 --> 00:08:12.139 you might be mathematically deleting the only 00:08:12.139 --> 00:08:14.459 true consensus choice. But doesn't that just 00:08:14.459 --> 00:08:16.819 result in a room full of people settling for 00:08:16.819 --> 00:08:19.560 a mediocre leader no one actually likes? Depends 00:08:19.560 --> 00:08:21.899 on how you define mediocre versus consensus. 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:25.000 Yeah. In a deeply polarized room, the person 00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:27.579 half the room loves is usually the person the 00:08:27.579 --> 00:08:30.379 other half vehemently despises. Fair point. The 00:08:30.379 --> 00:08:33.340 dark horse isn't necessarily mediocre. They are 00:08:33.340 --> 00:08:36.210 the release valve for the deadlock. They represent 00:08:36.210 --> 00:08:39.289 the overlapping middle in a Venn diagram of two 00:08:39.289 --> 00:08:41.850 warring factions. That makes perfect sense in 00:08:41.850 --> 00:08:44.129 theory. But when that deadlock doesn't break 00:08:44.129 --> 00:08:46.970 naturally, the system goes completely off the 00:08:46.970 --> 00:08:49.129 rails. Oh, we have historic proof of that. Look 00:08:49.129 --> 00:08:51.129 at the United States presidential election of 00:08:51.129 --> 00:08:54.889 1800. Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr ended up 00:08:54.889 --> 00:08:58.809 completely tied at 73 electoral votes each. A 00:08:58.809 --> 00:09:01.149 literal tie. Because the Constitution requires 00:09:01.149 --> 00:09:04.429 a majority, the election was thrown into a contingent 00:09:04.429 --> 00:09:06.529 election in the House of Representatives. Meaning 00:09:06.529 --> 00:09:09.539 the House had to step in and vote. By state delegation 00:09:09.539 --> 00:09:12.539 to break the tie and choose the president. Exactly. 00:09:12.659 --> 00:09:15.919 And it took six agonizing days of relentless 00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:19.259 debate and 36 separate ballots to finally elect 00:09:19.259 --> 00:09:22.600 Thomas Jefferson. Six days. 36 rounds of voting 00:09:22.600 --> 00:09:25.000 for the highest office in the land. It's an incredible 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:28.139 test of constitutional endurance. But 36 ballots 00:09:28.139 --> 00:09:30.779 is a walk in the park compared to the House speaker 00:09:30.779 --> 00:09:36.059 election of 1855 to 1856. That 1855 speaker election 00:09:36.059 --> 00:09:39.580 is the ultimate. catastrophic example of the 00:09:39.580 --> 00:09:42.440 center squeeze failing to resolve itself. It 00:09:42.440 --> 00:09:45.919 was a nightmare. The chamber was so deeply fractured 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:48.539 over the issue of slavery that they found themselves 00:09:48.539 --> 00:09:52.720 completely stuck. They voted 10 times, 50 times, 00:09:52.879 --> 00:09:56.379 100 times. They were deadlocked for a mind -numbing 00:09:56.379 --> 00:10:01.259 129 ballots. Try to imagine the sheer logistical 00:10:01.259 --> 00:10:03.360 nightmare of keeping a government functioning 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:07.519 while conducting 129 manual roll call votes. 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:10.600 The frustration in that room must have been toxic. 00:10:10.899 --> 00:10:12.919 Out of sheer desperation, they finally broke. 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:15.539 They adopted a temporary plurality rule stating 00:10:15.539 --> 00:10:17.720 that if after three more ballots no one had a 00:10:17.720 --> 00:10:19.879 majority, whoever got the most votes on the next 00:10:19.879 --> 00:10:21.779 ballot would just be declared the winner. They 00:10:21.779 --> 00:10:23.980 had to change the rules mid -game. Just to survive 00:10:23.980 --> 00:10:27.549 it. Finally, on the 133rd ballot. Nathaniel P. 00:10:27.570 --> 00:10:31.830 Banks won. He secured 103 votes out of 214 total. 00:10:32.049 --> 00:10:35.049 Which means, after all that pain, he was still 00:10:35.049 --> 00:10:38.570 five votes shy of a true majority. The mechanics 00:10:38.570 --> 00:10:41.169 of the absolute majority completely failed them, 00:10:41.230 --> 00:10:43.850 and they had to alter the fundamental rules of 00:10:43.850 --> 00:10:47.210 the chamber just to install a leader. Sitting 00:10:47.210 --> 00:10:50.610 through 133 manual roll calls really makes you 00:10:50.610 --> 00:10:53.850 wonder why... Anyone puts up with verbal voting 00:10:53.850 --> 00:10:56.490 when technology exists to instantly count a room. 00:10:56.710 --> 00:10:58.970 You'd think they'd want an upgrade. Let's trace 00:10:58.970 --> 00:11:01.669 how that voting technology has evolved, starting 00:11:01.669 --> 00:11:04.309 way back in the various legislative assemblies 00:11:04.309 --> 00:11:06.809 of the Roman Republic. The Romans were very active 00:11:06.809 --> 00:11:09.019 with their voting. Deeply, physically active. 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:12.179 Voting was preceded by a public meeting and then 00:11:12.179 --> 00:11:14.480 citizens were corralled into roped off areas. 00:11:14.779 --> 00:11:16.720 They were called forward in groups to physically 00:11:16.720 --> 00:11:19.659 walk across raised gangways. A literal physical 00:11:19.659 --> 00:11:21.820 journey to vote. At first, it was essentially 00:11:21.820 --> 00:11:25.000 an organized individual voice vote. A citizen 00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:27.960 stated his choice orally to an official who tallied 00:11:27.960 --> 00:11:30.639 it on a tablet. But as the republic matured. 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:33.320 The Romans recognized the intense need to protect 00:11:33.320 --> 00:11:35.860 voters from intimidation by powerful elites. 00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:38.340 That led to the introduction of the secret ballot. 00:11:38.539 --> 00:11:41.659 A huge shift. And the technology of the era was 00:11:41.659 --> 00:11:45.120 incredibly tactile. A voter would take a stylus 00:11:45.120 --> 00:11:48.059 and etch their decision directly onto a small 00:11:48.059 --> 00:11:51.500 boxwood tablet covered in wax. So cool. They 00:11:51.500 --> 00:11:53.740 would then physically drop that completed wax 00:11:53.740 --> 00:11:57.179 ballot into a specialized voting urn. The Romans 00:11:57.179 --> 00:12:00.830 called that urn a setella or a sista. The tactile 00:12:00.830 --> 00:12:03.649 nature of carving your choice into wax and dropping 00:12:03.649 --> 00:12:06.269 it into a box is such a visceral way to participate 00:12:06.269 --> 00:12:08.649 in government. It really is. Fast forward nearly 00:12:08.649 --> 00:12:12.230 two millennia from Roman urns to 1869, and we 00:12:12.230 --> 00:12:14.649 get a massive technological leap courtesy of 00:12:14.649 --> 00:12:17.509 Thomas Edison. Good old Edison. He filed a patent 00:12:17.509 --> 00:12:19.830 for the very first electric vote recorder. He 00:12:19.830 --> 00:12:22.629 took it to Washington, D .C., and proudly demonstrated 00:12:22.629 --> 00:12:25.590 the system to the United States Congress. Given 00:12:25.590 --> 00:12:28.210 that Congress had suffered through 133 ballots 00:12:28.210 --> 00:12:31.200 just over a decade prior, You'd assume they would 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:33.379 have eagerly adopted it to save time. You would 00:12:33.379 --> 00:12:35.399 absolutely assume that. But Congress completely 00:12:35.399 --> 00:12:38.100 rejected it. It wasn't a polite no. It was an 00:12:38.100 --> 00:12:40.720 absolute refusal. They hated it. In fact, over 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:44.519 the next 84 years, 50 different bills and resolutions 00:12:44.519 --> 00:12:48.100 were introduced trying to get some form of automatic 00:12:48.100 --> 00:12:51.539 or electronic voting system installed. All of 00:12:51.539 --> 00:12:55.000 them failed. 84 years of resistance. It wasn't 00:12:55.000 --> 00:12:57.600 until the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 00:12:57.600 --> 00:13:00.259 that electronic voting was finally authorized 00:13:00.259 --> 00:13:02.879 for the House of Representatives. And even after 00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:06.460 authorization, it took until 1973 for it to be 00:13:06.460 --> 00:13:09.120 officially used. And initially it was just utilized 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:11.679 to record a quorum call. For those unfamiliar 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:14.019 with the jargon, a quorum call isn't even a vote 00:13:14.019 --> 00:13:16.980 on a piece of legislation. It's just a procedural 00:13:16.980 --> 00:13:19.480 roll call to prove that the minimum required 00:13:19.480 --> 00:13:21.899 number of representatives are actually physically 00:13:21.899 --> 00:13:24.419 present in the building to conduct official business. 00:13:24.740 --> 00:13:27.240 Right. They fired up this massive new electronic 00:13:27.240 --> 00:13:29.940 system basically just to take attendance. So 00:13:29.940 --> 00:13:32.360 how does the modern system in the U .S. House 00:13:32.360 --> 00:13:34.919 actually function today? Well, representatives 00:13:34.919 --> 00:13:37.139 can cast their votes at multiple stations located 00:13:37.139 --> 00:13:39.399 throughout the chamber. The system initially 00:13:39.399 --> 00:13:43.120 used punched plastic cards, but today they rely 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:45.559 on magnetic stripe cards containing their unique 00:13:45.559 --> 00:13:48.220 ID information. Like a credit card. Exactly. 00:13:48.379 --> 00:13:51.379 They insert the card into the station and press 00:13:51.379 --> 00:13:54.580 one of three buttons. Green for yay, red for 00:13:54.580 --> 00:13:57.500 nay. or amber for present. And the moment they 00:13:57.500 --> 00:13:59.940 press the button, it's public. Their vote updates 00:13:59.940 --> 00:14:02.740 on these massive summary panels positioned right 00:14:02.740 --> 00:14:05.120 above the press gallery seats. Instantly visible. 00:14:05.379 --> 00:14:08.220 Their name lights up green, red, or amber for 00:14:08.220 --> 00:14:11.980 the whole room and the public to see. Most votes 00:14:11.980 --> 00:14:14.720 are held open for a 15 -minute window, with a 00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:17.519 massive countdown clock ticking away. But the 00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:20.360 rules governing that 15 -minute window are very 00:14:20.360 --> 00:14:22.870 strict regarding changing your mind. Oh, you 00:14:22.870 --> 00:14:26.269 can't just flip -flop constantly. No. If a representative 00:14:26.269 --> 00:14:28.309 wants to flip their vote during the first 10 00:14:28.309 --> 00:14:30.830 minutes, they simply reinsert their card and 00:14:30.830 --> 00:14:33.450 press a different button. However, if they have 00:14:33.450 --> 00:14:35.629 a sudden change of heart in the final five minutes 00:14:35.629 --> 00:14:38.289 of that window, they lose their electronic privileges. 00:14:38.750 --> 00:14:41.669 Which means they have to do what amounts to a 00:14:41.669 --> 00:14:44.129 congressional walk of shame. Pretty much. They 00:14:44.129 --> 00:14:46.669 must physically walk down into the well of the 00:14:46.669 --> 00:14:49.590 House and manually use a teller card. A teller 00:14:49.590 --> 00:14:53.350 card? is just a physical paper slip used to officially 00:14:53.350 --> 00:14:57.029 register a vote. The tally clerk then has to 00:14:57.029 --> 00:15:00.230 manually override the electronic system to enter 00:15:00.230 --> 00:15:03.230 the changed vote. It's a brilliant way to build 00:15:03.230 --> 00:15:05.750 friction into the system to discourage last minute 00:15:05.750 --> 00:15:08.700 chaos on the floor. It forces them to be deliberate. 00:15:08.840 --> 00:15:10.879 What's even more surprising is that Congress 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:13.620 was incredibly late to the technology party. 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:16.259 State legislatures beat the federal government 00:15:16.259 --> 00:15:19.700 by decades. The Wisconsin State Assembly installed 00:15:19.700 --> 00:15:22.940 an electronic voting system way back in 1917. 00:15:23.480 --> 00:15:26.779 1917. That's incredible. Texas followed shortly 00:15:26.779 --> 00:15:29.399 after, adopting one in 1919, and the Virginia 00:15:29.399 --> 00:15:32.139 House of Delegates installed theirs in 1923. 00:15:32.649 --> 00:15:34.889 Today, about two -thirds of state legislative 00:15:34.889 --> 00:15:38.169 bodies utilize electronic voting systems. And 00:15:38.169 --> 00:15:40.070 they use them for so much more than just counting 00:15:40.070 --> 00:15:42.250 yeas and nays. They're fully integrated. These 00:15:42.250 --> 00:15:44.330 sophisticated systems are heavily integrated 00:15:44.330 --> 00:15:46.549 into the machinery of government. They are linked 00:15:46.549 --> 00:15:48.769 directly to the production of the official legislative 00:15:48.769 --> 00:15:51.110 journal. They automatically manage the daily 00:15:51.110 --> 00:15:53.830 calendar. And they even control the debate timers 00:15:53.830 --> 00:15:56.529 on the floor. The entire workflow of the legislature 00:15:56.529 --> 00:15:59.830 is digitized for maximum efficiency. But the 00:15:59.830 --> 00:16:02.710 march of technology... isn't universal. No, it's 00:16:02.710 --> 00:16:04.970 not. There are highly prominent deliberative 00:16:04.970 --> 00:16:08.070 assemblies that categorically reject this modernization, 00:16:08.330 --> 00:16:11.090 clinging fiercely to the raw physicality and 00:16:11.090 --> 00:16:13.370 tradition of the past. The United States Senate 00:16:13.370 --> 00:16:16.529 is the glaring example here. The Senate completely 00:16:16.529 --> 00:16:19.750 rejects electronic voting. They do not use magnetic 00:16:19.750 --> 00:16:23.090 cards and there are no massive digital scoreboards 00:16:23.090 --> 00:16:25.250 on the walls. No screens anywhere. They rely 00:16:25.250 --> 00:16:27.870 entirely on the voice vote, the division vote 00:16:27.870 --> 00:16:30.940 and the traditional verbal roll call. And the 00:16:30.940 --> 00:16:33.539 Senate's verbal roll call is notoriously slow 00:16:33.539 --> 00:16:36.840 and deliberate. The clerk calls the roll of all 00:16:36.840 --> 00:16:40.120 100 senators alphabetically by name. Each senator 00:16:40.120 --> 00:16:42.600 must individually verbally respond when called. 00:16:42.759 --> 00:16:44.940 It takes an incredibly long time, and there is 00:16:44.940 --> 00:16:47.120 a very specific rule governing how they're supposed 00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:50.360 to do this. The desk rule. Ah, the desk rule. 00:16:50.539 --> 00:16:54.519 Passed in 1984 as Senate Resolution 480, it created 00:16:54.519 --> 00:16:57.200 a standing order that Every single senator is 00:16:57.200 --> 00:16:59.639 actually required to cast their vote while standing 00:16:59.639 --> 00:17:02.240 at their officially assigned desk. But in daily 00:17:02.240 --> 00:17:05.759 practice, this rule is almost comically ignored. 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:08.319 It really is. On a typical Tuesday afternoon, 00:17:08.619 --> 00:17:11.039 senators mill around the chamber, chatting in 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:13.619 small groups and loudly casting their votes from 00:17:13.619 --> 00:17:15.619 wherever they happen to be standing while the 00:17:15.619 --> 00:17:17.559 clerk tries to track them all down. But they 00:17:17.559 --> 00:17:19.619 don't ignore it when history is on the line. 00:17:20.009 --> 00:17:23.369 For deeply solemn historic votes, the Senate 00:17:23.369 --> 00:17:25.910 majority leader will actively enforce the desk 00:17:25.910 --> 00:17:28.589 rule. They reign everyone in. The Senate Historical 00:17:28.589 --> 00:17:31.809 Office tracks these moments closely. They force 00:17:31.809 --> 00:17:34.309 every single senator to return to their assigned 00:17:34.309 --> 00:17:37.549 desk, sit down, and vote from their designated 00:17:37.549 --> 00:17:40.809 spot for monumental events, like the passage 00:17:40.809 --> 00:17:43.390 of the Affordable Care Act, Supreme Court confirmation 00:17:43.390 --> 00:17:46.789 votes, or votes on articles of impeachment. By 00:17:46.789 --> 00:17:48.710 enforcing the physical constraint of the desk, 00:17:48.869 --> 00:17:51.890 the Senate uses its own architecture to signal 00:17:51.890 --> 00:17:54.490 the immense gravity of the moment. You aren't 00:17:54.490 --> 00:17:56.789 just casually agreeing to a routine budget tweak 00:17:56.789 --> 00:17:59.269 while talking to a colleague. You are anchored 00:17:59.269 --> 00:18:02.069 to your designated spot, fulfilling a heavy constitutional 00:18:02.069 --> 00:18:05.029 duty. The physical restriction elevates the seriousness 00:18:05.029 --> 00:18:08.049 of the act. It changes the entire atmosphere 00:18:08.049 --> 00:18:10.269 of the room. If we're talking about using physical 00:18:10.269 --> 00:18:12.470 space and architecture to enforce the gravity 00:18:12.470 --> 00:18:15.450 of voting, we have to look across the pond at 00:18:15.450 --> 00:18:18.730 the UK Parliament in Westminster. Oh, Westminster 00:18:18.730 --> 00:18:20.869 is fascinating. The drama there is literally 00:18:20.869 --> 00:18:23.859 built right into the floor plan. At the close 00:18:23.859 --> 00:18:26.000 of a debate in the House of Commons, the speaker 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:28.259 puts the motion by just asking the room for a 00:18:28.259 --> 00:18:31.779 basic voice vote. As many as are of that opinion 00:18:31.779 --> 00:18:35.319 say aye. The room shouts. Of the contrary, no! 00:18:35.619 --> 00:18:38.319 The room shouts back. But if that acoustic estimate 00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:42.539 is unclear, or if literally any member challenges 00:18:42.539 --> 00:18:45.759 the result, the speaker initiates a formal division 00:18:45.759 --> 00:18:49.089 by shouting, clear the lobby. That phrase alone 00:18:49.089 --> 00:18:51.750 is incredible. Clear the lobby. It triggers division 00:18:51.750 --> 00:18:54.150 bells to start ringing loudly all across the 00:18:54.150 --> 00:18:56.349 entire parliamentary estate. Warning everyone 00:18:56.349 --> 00:18:58.750 that a vote is happening. Any member of parliament 00:18:58.750 --> 00:19:00.869 anywhere on the grounds knows they have exactly 00:19:00.869 --> 00:19:02.950 eight minutes to get to the chamber and physically 00:19:02.950 --> 00:19:05.190 separate themselves. They must walk into one 00:19:05.190 --> 00:19:07.869 of two actual physical rooms called division 00:19:07.869 --> 00:19:11.109 lobbies. Literal room. If you vote aye, you walk 00:19:11.109 --> 00:19:12.970 into the lobby to the speaker's right. If you 00:19:12.970 --> 00:19:15.670 vote no, you walk into the lobby to the speaker's 00:19:15.670 --> 00:19:18.809 left. Think about the intense psychological pressure 00:19:18.809 --> 00:19:22.289 of that system. You cannot quietly push a dissenting 00:19:22.289 --> 00:19:24.549 button at a desk while looking at your phone. 00:19:24.710 --> 00:19:27.170 If you are voting against your party's agenda, 00:19:27.509 --> 00:19:30.490 you have to physically stand up, look your party 00:19:30.490 --> 00:19:32.869 leaders in the eye, and walk past them into the 00:19:32.869 --> 00:19:35.650 opposing room. That is brutal. The mechanics 00:19:35.650 --> 00:19:37.970 of the vote deliberately maximize peer pressure. 00:19:38.190 --> 00:19:41.049 As they walk through these lobbies, clerks manually 00:19:41.049 --> 00:19:43.829 record their names and tellers count them. After 00:19:43.829 --> 00:19:46.250 exactly eight minutes, The doors are locked. 00:19:46.430 --> 00:19:48.950 The House of Lords follows a very similar procedure, 00:19:49.250 --> 00:19:51.589 though they use the words content and not content 00:19:51.589 --> 00:19:54.390 instead of I and no. And their starting command 00:19:54.390 --> 00:19:57.009 is clear the bar instead of clear the lobby. 00:19:57.170 --> 00:19:59.069 We do have to acknowledge the massive disruption 00:19:59.069 --> 00:20:02.589 caused by the pandemic, though. COVID -19 forced 00:20:02.589 --> 00:20:05.049 even Westminster to bend its oldest traditions. 00:20:05.369 --> 00:20:07.670 True. Everything had to adapt. For a temporary 00:20:07.670 --> 00:20:10.849 period in 2020, the UK Parliament actually sat 00:20:10.849 --> 00:20:13.750 virtually and conducted electronic virtual divisions. 00:20:14.089 --> 00:20:16.329 While the House of Commons has since returned 00:20:16.329 --> 00:20:19.130 to physical voting, though they now scan their 00:20:19.130 --> 00:20:21.190 passes electronically as they enter the physical 00:20:21.190 --> 00:20:23.710 lobbies to speed up the count, the House of Lords 00:20:23.710 --> 00:20:25.910 actually kept electronic voting permanently. 00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:29.079 They use a smartphone app to vote now. An app. 00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:32.400 But in an incredibly British compromise, members 00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:35.200 of the Lords are strictly required to be physically 00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:38.200 present inside the Parliament estate in order 00:20:38.200 --> 00:20:41.099 to use the app. They digitized the button, but 00:20:41.099 --> 00:20:43.740 they staunchly retained the geographical boundary. 00:20:43.980 --> 00:20:45.880 They couldn't let go of the physical space completely. 00:20:46.220 --> 00:20:49.160 Exactly. So to synthesize this journey for you, 00:20:49.220 --> 00:20:51.559 whether a deliberative assembly is relying on 00:20:51.559 --> 00:20:54.940 the quick acoustic estimate of shouting I, swiping 00:20:54.940 --> 00:20:57.839 a magnetic card in a computerized terminal, enduring 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:02.220 a 133rd consecutive manual roll call, or physically 00:21:02.220 --> 00:21:04.559 marching into a designated room based on your 00:21:04.559 --> 00:21:07.259 political stance, these methods are far more 00:21:07.259 --> 00:21:10.460 than just dry administrative bureaucracy. They're 00:21:10.460 --> 00:21:13.039 the actual levers of power. The specific rules 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:15.900 of voting actively dictate the speed of government, 00:21:16.039 --> 00:21:18.460 the level of transparency afforded to the public, 00:21:18.599 --> 00:21:21.859 and in cases of deep division, the ultimate outcome 00:21:21.859 --> 00:21:24.099 of the decisions that govern our daily lives. 00:21:24.740 --> 00:21:28.059 It completely reframes how you look at something 00:21:28.059 --> 00:21:30.980 as seemingly mundane as a show of hands at a 00:21:30.980 --> 00:21:33.200 local meeting. It really does. Before we wrap 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:34.880 up, I want to leave you with a final thought 00:21:34.880 --> 00:21:37.799 to mull over. We spent a lot of time today talking 00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:40.559 about how the recorded vote creates vital accountability 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:43.519 for representatives, forcing their choices into 00:21:43.519 --> 00:21:45.440 the public light. The necessity of the public 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:47.819 record. But contrast that with how you and I 00:21:47.819 --> 00:21:50.859 vote in a general election. We demand absolute, 00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:54.339 unbreakable secrecy for the citizen. the secret 00:21:54.339 --> 00:21:57.700 ballot to protect us from coercion, intimidation 00:21:57.700 --> 00:22:00.940 or bribery. Right. Yet we demand radical open 00:22:00.940 --> 00:22:03.019 transparency for our elected representatives 00:22:03.019 --> 00:22:06.980 as we continue to digitize and expose every single 00:22:06.980 --> 00:22:09.180 granular action our representative takes on the 00:22:09.180 --> 00:22:12.059 floor. Does that extreme transparency actually 00:22:12.059 --> 00:22:14.579 invite a different kind of coercion? That's a 00:22:14.579 --> 00:22:17.000 huge question. When every single vote is immediately 00:22:17.000 --> 00:22:20.140 public, are we freeing representatives to vote 00:22:20.140 --> 00:22:22.819 their conscience on behalf of their constituents? 00:22:23.309 --> 00:22:25.390 Or are we just making it incredibly easy for 00:22:25.390 --> 00:22:27.849 well -funded lobbyists and extreme political 00:22:27.849 --> 00:22:31.809 factions to monitor, threaten, and punish them 00:22:31.809 --> 00:22:34.849 for ever daring to compromise? It is the ultimate 00:22:34.849 --> 00:22:37.970 paradox of representation. The very transparency 00:22:37.970 --> 00:22:40.789 designed to protect the voter might be the exact 00:22:40.789 --> 00:22:43.529 mechanism that paralyzes the legislature from 00:22:43.529 --> 00:22:45.569 actually getting anything done. Something to 00:22:45.569 --> 00:22:47.210 think about the next time you see a legislative 00:22:47.210 --> 00:22:49.509 scoreboard light up on the news. Thank you so 00:22:49.509 --> 00:22:51.690 much for joining us on this deep dive. Keep asking 00:22:51.690 --> 00:22:53.920 questions. examining the hidden machinery of 00:22:53.920 --> 00:22:55.960 the world around you, and we will catch you on 00:22:55.960 --> 00:22:56.460 the next one.