‘Ghost Votes’ by Tucker Questioned

SACRAMENTO —  In more than 30 instances on the final day of the legislative session, lame-duck Assemblyman Curtis Tucker (D-Inglewood) voted on bills, but was nowhere near the Capitol.

Tucker’s “votes” last Saturday were pivotal on bills involving tobacco, increased fees for burials and cremations, and redevelopment in San Bernardino.

Tucker infuriated at least one fellow Democrat, who intends to urge that Gov. Pete Wilson veto one bill that passed with Tucker’s “support” based on what lawmakers call a “ghost vote.”

In another instance, at roughly 10 p.m., Tucker’s seatmate, Assemblyman Dan Hauser (D-Arcata), introduced and argued for Tucker’s own legislation, a special-interest bill affecting horse racing.

Tucker was recorded as having voted for the measure.

“Oh, good,” Tucker said Thursday, suggesting that he was hearing for the first time that the horse racing bill won passage in his absence. “I should have had him carry all my bills.”

Tucker acknowledged that he left the Capitol on Saturday afternoon. The session continued until shortly after 2 a.m. Sunday.

He explained that he needed to clear out his Sacramento apartment by Sunday, the first of the month. He needed to load a truck with his belongings and drive to his home in Inglewood, Tucker said.

In a telephone interview, Tucker said he was unaware that anyone had cast votes for him, and insisted that he did not leave instructions with legislative allies to do so. But he added that he was not upset that the votes were cast.

“Right, wrong or indifferent, that happens,” Tucker said. “It has happened in the past and will happen well into the future.”

There are no legal sanctions against ghost voting. The practice, however, is a violation of the Assembly’s internal rules--albeit one for which there are no penalties.

Tucker’s ghost votes came despite Assembly Republican efforts to curb the practice. Assembly members routinely cast votes for one another, but only by prearrangement, and generally when absent members have stepped away from their desks for brief moments.

Assembly members vote by pushing buttons at their desks. The buttons are activated by a key, and members are supposed to take the key with them when they leave the floor. Tucker said he forgot to remove his key.

The exact time of Tucker’s departure Saturday is not clear. An Assembly sign-out sheet shows that Tucker left the Assembly chamber at 12:16 p.m. He says it was somewhat later.

He acknowledges that he was gone by 6 p.m. From that time on, his vote was recorded at least 33 times. His votes were being cast until early Sunday morning.

Of the bills that Tucker was recorded as voting on, three won final approval with a bare majority of 41 votes in the 80-seat house, meaning Tucker’s votes were deciding.

One was Assembly Bill 2188 by Assemblyman Brett Granlund (R-Yucaipa), which sought to impose criminal penalties on minors who smoke. The measure also permits authorities to charge stores that sell cigarettes to minors with infractions, rather than stiffer misdemeanors.

Most Assembly Democrats opposed the measure, as did anti-smoking groups, which argued for a broader attack on teenage smoking. Tucker said he supported the bill.

“I was totally unaware,” Paul Knepprath of the American Lung Assn. of California said of Tucker having been recorded as voting. “We felt the bill had a lot of problems.”

The second measure, by Assemblyman Willard H. Murray Jr. (D-Paramount), would increase charges for burials by $9 million over the next eight years to pay for more intensive oversight of cemeteries. It has support from Democrats and Republicans.

Tucker also cast a deciding 41st vote for a Republican-backed bill that gives the mayor of San Bernardino the power to veto City Council decisions affecting redevelopment.

On that, Tucker “voted” against the wishes of Assemblyman Joe Baca, a fellow Democrat from San Bernardino.

“I’m a little appalled,” Baca said Thursday. “It’s totally unfair. It should not have happened. Tucker should have turned his key off.”

Baca said he and other opponents of the measure--SB 2112 by Sen. Bill Leonard (R-San Bernardino)--intend to urge Wilson to veto the bill based on the bogus vote.

First elected in 1989, Tucker is being forced to retire this year because of term limits. He lost a primary for a state Senate seat earlier this year. Although he is a Democrat, he received significant campaign funding from Republican leaders in that race.