House panel says Democrats messed up 2007 vote

[September 26, 2008]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democrats messed up. Republicans were robbed.

It took a special House committee more than a year of investigating, at a cost of $500,000, to validate GOP claims that majority Democrats made the wrong call on a contested vote one late night in the summer of 2007. The dispute fed into the highly partisan atmosphere on Capitol Hill that continues to this day.

"One fact is indisputable," according to the report Thursday by the six-member bipartisan panel. The final vote was "incorrect.

The Aug. 2, 2007, vote was on a Republican motion to ensure that illegal immigrants would not get certain benefits from an agriculture spending bill.

The presiding officer at the time, Rep. Michael McNulty, D-N.Y., concluding that all votes had been cast, struck the gavel when the tally was a 214-214 tie, defeating the GOP measure. But, just as he spoke the electronic voting board, reflecting changed votes, upticked to 215-213, signifying a Republican victory, and displayed the word "Final."

Compounding the confusion, McNulty stopped before he finished his announcement ending the vote as he spotted several late voters, keeping the vote open.

"Shame! Shame! Shame!" Republicans shouted before walking out when McNulty held the vote open for about seven more minutes -- time for several Democrats to change their vote and provide their party with a clearer margin.

McNulty later apologized for calling the vote prematurely.

A "black eye" for Democrats, said Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio after the report was released. "When the Democratic leadership rigged the process to reverse the vote, they believed they would never get caught."

The report did not say that McNulty or House staff was pressured to call the vote to give Democrats the victory. But it said he failed to follow "customary procedures," resulting in "an inaccurate announcement and unintentionally raising concerns regarding the legitimacy of that vote."

The investigative panel led by Reps. William Delahunt, D-Mass., and Mike Pence, R-Ind., recommended the repeal of a House rule that bars the majority from holding a vote open until enough arms can be twisted to change the outcome.

Delahunt said the rule had a "noble intent to curb other perceived abuses." But, he said, it was difficult to enforce and, "at worst, the catalyst for the raw anger that we observed" that night more than a year ago.

McNulty told the panel he was "overly fixated on the enforcement of that rule."

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., also told the panel that near the end of the vote he yelled several times in McNulty's direction, saying it was time to shut down the vote. McNulty denied hearing Hoyer or feeling pressure to cut off the vote.

"There is nothing wrong with any majority leader seeking to have a vote closed when his side is winning," Pence said. "But there is a line that must not be crossed."

The committee, which had a budget of $500,000, retained lawyers and interviewed several dozen lawmakers and House employees over the past year.

[Associated Press; By JIM ABRAMS]

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