[RP TownTalk] What's up with abstaining?

[Rob Oppenheim]

On Thu, 7 Dec 2006 07:36:05 -0800 (PST), Nancy Mooney wrote:
>...what's up with abstaining?  What does that mean?
 
Sarah listed several reasons why a Councilmember (CM) might abstain from 
voting. She left out an important angle. Due to a wrinkle in our Charter, 
abstaining often amounts to a super strong "no" vote.
 
This gets a bit convoluted...
 
You see, the mayor is not allowed to vote - except to break a tie.

So in a tie situation, a motion can pass if the mayor votes "yes".

A CM can often avoid a tie by abstaining instead of voting "no", and thus 
prevent the mayor from having a chance to vote and thus prevent the motion
from being passed by the mayor's vote.

As an example...
 
If the council vote is a 3 to 3 tie, then the mayor would vote - which might result 
in the legislation passing 4 to 3.
 
If instead, the council vote was 3 yes, 2 no, with one abstaining (or absent) then 
there is no tie and the mayor cannot vote. Since the charter also requires a super 
majority of 4 affirmative votes to pass legislation, in this example, the motion 
would fail.
 
To summarize, abstaining can be a super strong NO vote that significantly reduces 
the chance of a motion passing by preventing the mayor from voting.
 
This has become the norm for abstaining, so even when there is no chance of a tie, 
abstaining might be used to send a signal to other CM. 
 
It is worth noting, that for the recent stipend vote, this may or may not have been the 
intent of those abstaining. (I leave it to them if they choose to explain their motives.)
 
These wrinkles in our Charter also cloud the reasons for abstaining that were described 
by Sarah. As an example, she wrote: "(1) You believe that to vote on the issue is a 
conflict of interest, and that it is therefore unethical to vote." That could be a good 
reason to abstain except that abstaining can actually be a super-no vote - so it might 
still be unethical - perhaps even more so.

Ain't politics fun?
 
-Rob Oppenheim
 
Ward One Councilman, Riverdale Park
5902 Cleveland Ave
Riverdale Park, Md 20737-1930
 
Home Office: 301 779 1745