Key Votes
Key Votes
State
- National down
- National
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- National
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Issue
- All down
- All
- Abortion Issues
- Agriculture Issues
- Animal Rights and Wildlife Issues
- Arts and Humanities
- Budget, Spending and Taxes
- Business and Consumers
- Campaign Finance and Election Issues
- Civil Liberties and Civil Rights
- Congressional and Legislative Affairs
- Crime Issues
- Death Penalty
- Defense
- Drug Issues
- Education
- Employment and Affirmative Action
- Energy Issues
- Environmental Issues
- Executive Branch
- Family and Children Issues
- Federal, State, and Local Relations
- Foreign Aid and Policy Issues
- Gambling and Gaming
- Government Reform
- Gun Issues
- Health Issues
- Housing and Property Issues
- Immigration
- Indigenous Peoples
- Labor
- Legal Issues
- Military Issues
- National Security Issues
- Reproductive Issues
- Science and Medical Research
- Senior and Social Security Issues
- Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
- Social Issues
- Stem Cell Research
- Technology and Communication
- Trade Issues
- Transportation Issues
- Veterans Issues
- Welfare and Poverty
- Women's Issues
Year
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About the Selection and Descriptions of Key Votes
Project Vote Smart provides easy access to Congressional and State voting records and maintains a collection of key votes grouped by issue. Key votes typically include the initial passage of legislation and final conference report vote versions (the compromised versions of bills passed in separate House and Senate versions). Vote Smart uses the following criteria to select key votes:
- The vote should be helpful in portraying how a member stands on a particular issue
- The vote should be clear for any person to understand
- The vote has received media attention
- The vote was passed or defeated by a very close margin
- Occasionally, if a specific bill is consistently inquired about on the Voter's Research Hotline, the vote will be added
Descriptions of the votes are written by Vote Smart staff and based on information included in the Congressional Record, State House Journals, or Senate Journals, with additional background information from newspapers, magazines, etc. Vote Smart provides summaries for each selected key vote. The summary does not necessarily reflect the final version of the bill.
The Key Votes Program follows Project Vote Smart's strict policies, procedures and structure that guarantee absolute impartiality and accuracy. In order to ensure that all Key Votes are non-partisan in their selection and language, each is approved by a group of over 160 political scientists and journalists from all fifty states.
