Absent Senator Won't Have Vote Counted
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- A state senator who was absent for a vote on whether to allow full marriage rights to same-sex couples will not be allowed to record her vote against it.
Sen. Joanne Benson, D-Prince George's, asked for her vote against the bill to be counted during the Senate's session Friday. She says she missed the vote Thursday night after she left the chamber to tell a group she would be late for a speech.
Some senators could be heard expressing their disapproval of the request after she made it on the Senate floor.
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller said if senators would not agree unanimously to count Benson's vote, then the vote would be left at 25-21 to pass the bill. If Benson's vote had been counted, it would have been 25-22.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
