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Panel: House Democrats' Win On '07 Vote Incorrect

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The Associated Press

Published: September 26, 2008

WASHINGTON - 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 during one late night in the summer of 2007. The dispute fed into the ongoing highly partisan atmosphere on Capitol Hill.

"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 a clearer margin.

McNulty later apologized for calling the vote prematurely.

It is 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."

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