Lexington Town Meeting usually votes on matters before it via "voice votes", which are judged, by ear, by the town moderator.  While this is a long-standing tradition, Lexopengov is opposed to it.  This is not how a representative democracy is supposed to work.  Town Meeting Members are elected to represent their precincts, and should not hide behind the anonymity of voice votes.  For a guide to how Town Meeting works, see "Town Meeting in Lexington", an excellent primer published by the Lexington Town Meeting Members Association and the Lexington League of Women Voters.

Unfortunately, roll call votes in Lexington are quite rare.  Currently, they must be done manually, a time-consuming process.  The annual town meeting usually has many articles to consider, and a controversial article can consume an entire evening.  Thus time is always a constraint.

 An electronic voting system would solve this problem, allowing roll call votes to be conducted in literally seconds.  This would require an investment of roughly $50,000 - $70,000, along with the time to be trained in the system.

Roll Call Vote History 1997- Present:

On March 26, 1997, there was a roll call vote on a warrant article that would have restricted annual increases in the town's budget to 3%.  Here are the minutes from that meeting.  Here is the Lexington Minuteman news story describing the issue.

On November 9, 1998, there was a roll call vote on a $52M school building proposal.  Here are the minutes from that meeting.

On March 28, 2001, there was a roll call vote on the controversial Pay As You Throw (PAYT) trash fee.  Here are the minutes from that meeting. 

On April 10, 2002, there was a roll call vote regarding proposed restrictions on large houses.  Here are the minutes from that meeting.

On May 15, 2002, Town Meeting again debated PAYT.  Here are the minutes from that meeting.

On March 18, 2007, there was a roll call vote on a controversial inclusionary zoning bylaw change.  Here are the minutes from that town meeting.