Ever wonder if your lawmaker is actually coming to Augusta?

All the roll call percentages of Maine House members are now posted online.

A quick scan of the five-page document shows that most reps show up to vote
more than 90 percent of the time. The roll call percentages aren’t
necessarily an indication of whether a lawmaker is in the building; they
are simply a measure of how many times a representative voted on roll
calls.

(A roll call — when each lawmaker is supposed to press his or her red or
green button — isn’t taken on every bill. But when it’s a contentious
issue, a vote that needs two-thirds support or in a handful of other
instances, each representative is expected to vote.)

If you’ve ever been in the building when the House or Senate bells go off,
that’s what calls legislators to their seats to vote.

Legislators and staffers will tell you that just because someone doesn’t
have a 100 percent roll call record doesn’t mean he or she isn’t doing
important legislative business. They may be wheeling and dealing out in the
hallway on other stuff.

But roll calls are important.

They tell us exactly how our elected officials voted on a particular issue.
And we send them to the Statehouse to vote on our behalf.

So check out the link below to see how your local lawmaker did. And the
next time you see them at the grocery store, pat them on the back. ( Or ask
them why they missed so many votes.)
http://janus.state.me.us/house/rollcall.htm.