Lower House of Deputies Assignment #2

The picture I took from the Palace of the Argentine Congress depicts the Argentine Chamber of Deputies, which is the lower house of congress. There are 257 deputies in office who hold a 4 year term. Every 2 years, however, half of the seats are up for reelection, so the seats in the House of Deputies are constantly shifting. Much like in the United states, the House of deputies has the right to impeach after the majority of 2/3 of its members being present. When we saw the room, it reminded me much of how the US also has the house of representatives set up. Something I thought was interesting is how each seat has a weight sensor on it, so that it can quickly be decided if there are enough members present to start a vote. out of the 257 members, there must be 129 present to initiate a vote. Once quorum is reached the session may begin. There are 3 galleries for viewing; the first gallery is for deputy guests and the president, while the last two are for the general public. There are also fingerprint scanners at each seat so that the voting member can be verified before casting their vote of yes or no. I never thought this would be how technology would have improved the system; I thought they still counted votes the old fashioned way of counting hands or going down the line and each deputy casting their vote out loud. This procedure speeds up the process and ensures accuracy in counting votes. Also similar to the United States, all bills dealing with raising revenue or recruiting troops for army exclusively originates in the House of Deputies. I enjoyed learning about the congress and found the building and the procedures fascinating.

Congreso de la Nacion Argentine. Retrieved 7 January 2020, from https://www.congreso.gob.ar/constitucionSeccion1Cap1_ingles.php

Vanina Montes de Oca, Asesora en Direccion de Diplomacia Parlamentaria y Cooperacion Interacional en Honorable Camara de Diputados de la Nacion