Key Votes

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Vote Smart provides easy access to congressional and state voting records and maintains a collection of key votes grouped by issue. Vote Smart uses the following criteria to select key votes:

  1. The vote should be helpful in portraying how a member stands on a particular issue
  2. The vote should be clear for any person to understand
  3. The vote has received media attention
  4. The vote was passed or defeated by a very close margin
  5. Occasionally, if a specific bill is consistently inquired about on the Voter's Research Hotline, the vote will be added

Vote Smart provides a summary of the version of the bill text associated with each selected key vote. Our summaries are written by Vote Smart's staff and interns, who adhere to our strict policies and procedures in order to guarantee absolute impartiality and accuracy. They do not necessarily reflect the content of the final version of the bill, but rather the version voted on in that stage. While many procedural votes take place before a full chamber vote, our voting stages reflect the final reading of each chamber vote. Each key vote selection is reviewed by the project's community of advisors, who are political scientists and journalists from all fifty states.

For more information about the legislative process, see here.


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Date State Bill No. Title Outcome
Feb. 8, 2011 National HR 514 Extension of Various USA PATRIOT Act Provisions Bill Failed - House (277 - 148)
Feb. 8, 2011 WY HB 204 Patriotism in the Classroom Bill Passed - House (52 - 5)
Feb. 7, 2011 SD HB 1152 Drug Testing for Welfare Recipients Bill Failed - House (32 - 36)
Feb. 7, 2011 WY HB 198 Admissibility of Evidence in Sex Offense Cases Bill Failed - House (29 - 30)
Feb. 7, 2011 WY HB 198 Admissibility of Evidence in Sex Offense Cases Bill Failed - House (29 - 30)
Feb. 3, 2011 UT HB 223 Innkeeper's Rights Act Modification Bill Failed - House (22 - 48)
Feb. 1, 2011 ID H 26 Increment in fees for felonies and misdemeanors Bill Failed - House (31 - 35)
Jan. 26, 2011 SC H 3003 Voter ID Bill Passed - House (74 - 45)
Jan. 26, 2011 WY HB 29 Mandatory Testing for Suspected DUI Offenders Bill Passed - House (35 - 23)
Jan. 21, 2011 MT HB 167 Criminalizes Death to an Unborn Child Bill Passed - House (68 - 30)
Jan. 6, 2011 IL SB 3539 Abolishing the Death Penalty Bill Passed - House (60 - 54)
Date No. Title Outcome
2/08 HR 514 Extension of Various USA PATRIOT Act Provisions Bill Failed - House (277 - 148)
2/08 HB 204 Patriotism in the Classroom Bill Passed - House (52 - 5)
2/07 HB 1152 Drug Testing for Welfare Recipients Bill Failed - House (32 - 36)
2/07 HB 198 Admissibility of Evidence in Sex Offense Cases Bill Failed - House (29 - 30)
2/07 HB 198 Admissibility of Evidence in Sex Offense Cases Bill Failed - House (29 - 30)
2/03 HB 223 Innkeeper's Rights Act Modification Bill Failed - House (22 - 48)
2/01 H 26 Increment in fees for felonies and misdemeanors Bill Failed - House (31 - 35)
1/26 H 3003 Voter ID Bill Passed - House (74 - 45)
1/26 HB 29 Mandatory Testing for Suspected DUI Offenders Bill Passed - House (35 - 23)
1/21 HB 167 Criminalizes Death to an Unborn Child Bill Passed - House (68 - 30)
1/06 SB 3539 Abolishing the Death Penalty Bill Passed - House (60 - 54)

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