The Public Affairs Research Council is decrying what they say is an unconstitutional secret ballot nomination process for the Senate Presidency.
The final vote for Senate President is public, but the crucial first step of nominating people for the position is not. PAR President Robert Travis Scott says the process is against the law.
“If you look at the open meetings law it says you can’t do secret balloting, and if you look at the Senate Rules for electing a president it says the process begins with a secret ballot,” says Scott
The rule was adopted in 2015 when former President John Alario won a unanimous vote.
The Senate President is one of the most powerful positions at the Capitol, controlling appointments, chairmanships, procedures, and more. Scott says it’s too crucial a process for any secrecy. “This vote for Senate purposes is probably one of the most important votes that a Senator, a Senator just being sworn in are gonna take,” says Scott
Scott hopes the Senate will overturn the rule before they nominate because no vote for a publicly elected official makes should be secret.
“When you and I go to the polls to vote, that’s a vote that’s a private vote it can be kept secret. But when we elect representatives to represent us then their votes are supposed to be public,” says Scott
Lafayette Senator Page Cortez is the frontrunner for the January 13th election.
