onthebrink

How voting works in the House:

Voting machines are placed throughout the chamber. Members slot in an ID card then vote. 

Accidental votes are fairly common and not usually bc of bad staffing. There are lots of procedural votes (I.e. motion to table) that need to be defeated to vote in favor on the underlying. Votes tend to happen in rapid succession (5 votes in 10 minutes) so Members can easily get lost on where they are at in the series. 

On top of the mechanics, members aren’t just sitting around between votes waiting for the next one - they have little quests. Votes are the only time you know that everyone will be there. It’s a great time to walk across the aisle and say “hey your staff have been ignoring my staff’s calls. I really want to work with you on bill XYZ.” This goes both ways though, so members are both approaching and being approached the whole time. Lotta yappin on the floor.

On SAB121 Ferguson likely was on a side quest , got lost on what the vote was, and made a mistake.