The New York Times took a look at attendance records among voting members, and found that 15 members — 11 Republicans and 4 Democrats — did not miss a single of the 814 House roll call votes so far this year.
Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young missed the most votes — 16 percent of the total this year. (Incidentally, Young is one of the Republicans who Hawaii Democrats have described as an ally. A staffer in Rep. Mazie Hirono‘s office told DC808 that he is one of “our favorite Republican friends.”)
According to the New York Times’ analysis, nearly 20 House members have missed more than 10 percent of the votes in 2011. Michigan comes out on top for attendance. Four of its representatives boasted perfect voting attendance, the most of any state.
As of August, Civil Beat found that — since the beginning of 2011 — Hirono opted out of 3 percent of votes; Rep. Colleen Hanabusa opted out of 1 percent of votes. On the Senate side, Sen. Daniel Inouye opted out of 7 percent of votes; Sen. Daniel Akaka opted out of 5 percent of votes between January and August.
Check out this graphic showing the most missed votes, and lawmakers’ reasons for being absent.
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