New bill would put an end to secluded and late-night “Vampire Voting” legislature sessions | Democracy, elections, and voting at Democracy Chronicles

A bill proposed by N.Y. Sen. Terry Gipson, dubbed the Vampire Voting Act, will eliminate late-night voting if passed. Gipson has expressed discontent with the state Senate’s tendency to rush legislature into law in the wee hours of the morning. An article published Friday by The Saratogian announced:

The bill cleared the Senate Government Operations Committee this week and is now in the Senate Finance Committee. The Senate, which was in session until 4:30 a.m. one day last month while passing a budget, has so far not scheduled a vote on Gipson’s bill. For now, the Vampire Voting Act does not have a companion measure in the Assembly, which has also held late night sessions in the past. A spokesman for the state Assembly could not immediately say Friday if Gipson’s bill or a similar one would be taken up.

A statement by Gipson posted on the Senate web page read in part, “I’m extremely pleased that this body has taken the steps needed to stop voting and passing legislation in the dead of night while the people we represent are asleep…Public trust is not a partisan issue, it is what we as elected representatives must earn by example.”