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:

On March 18, 2007, there was a roll call vote on a controversial inclusionary zoning bylaw change.

Sometime during the 2001 Annual Town Meeting, there was a roll call vote on the controversial Pay As You Throw (PAYT) trash fee.