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:
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.
| Date | State | Bill No. | Title | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 2019 | FL | HB 5 | Increases Ballot Initiative Signature Collection Requirements | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (22 - 17) |
| May 2, 2019 | FL | SB 7066 | Requires Felons Pay Outstanding Court Fees Prior to Voting Rights Restoration | Bill Passed - Senate (22 - 17) |
| May 2, 2019 | CO | HB 19-1318 | Amends Campaign Finance Regulations | Bill Passed - Senate (20 - 15) |
| May 2, 2019 | CA | SB 27 | Requires Presidential Candidates to Release Tax Returns | Bill Passed - Senate (27 - 10) |
| April 29, 2019 | CO | HB 19-1278 | Authorizes Primary Voting for 17 Year Olds and Increases Rural Voter Services | Bill Passed - Senate (18 - 17) |
| April 26, 2019 | ND | SB 2148 | Establishes the Creation of an Ethics Commission | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (42 - 5) |
| April 26, 2019 | CO | HB 19-1266 | Authorizes Voting Rights to Paroled Felons | Bill Passed - Senate (23 - 12) |
| April 25, 2019 | TN | HB 1079 | Increases Penalties for Voter Registration Errors | Bill Passed - Senate (25 - 6) |
| April 24, 2019 | CO | SB 19-235 | Expands Automatic Voter Registration System | Bill Passed - Senate (19 - 16) |
| April 23, 2019 | NV | SB 450 | Amends Provisions Relating to Recall Elections | Bill Passed - Senate (16 - 5) |
| April 17, 2019 | IA | HF 692 | Requires Bar Codes on Absentee Ballots to Determine Time of Mailing | Bill Passed - Senate (31 - 18) |
| April 17, 2019 | ND | HB 1521 | Amends State Ethic Laws for Campaign Lobbying | Bill Passed - Senate (39 - 8) |
| April 17, 2019 | ND | HB 1521 | Amends State Ethic Laws for Campaign Lobbying | Bill Passed - Senate (39 - 8) |
| April 11, 2019 | DE | HB 38 | Amends Early Voting Regulations | Bill Passed - Senate (16 - 5) |
| April 11, 2019 | IL | SB 145 | Requires Presidential Candidates to Release Tax Returns | Bill Passed - Senate (36 - 19) |
| April 10, 2019 | IL | SB 2090 | Expands Access to Voting in Jails | Bill Passed - Senate (37 - 17) |
| April 10, 2019 | IL | SB 1970 | Authorizes Student Absences for Voting | Bill Passed - Senate (40 - 10) |
| April 10, 2019 | NC | SB 250 | Amends Voting Rolls to Correlate with Jury Selection Excusals | Bill Passed - Senate (27 - 19) |
| April 9, 2019 | OR | SB 870 | Authorizes Interstate Agreement to Elect the President by Popular Vote | Bill Passed - Senate (17 - 12) |
| April 3, 2019 | ID | H 296 | Amends Ballot Initiative Requirements | Bill Passed - Senate (20 - 15) |
| March 28, 2019 | NH | SB 67 | Amends Definition of Resident and Residency | "Ought to Pass" Report Adopted - Senate (14 - 10) |
| March 28, 2019 | NH | SB 156 | Establishes Limits to Election Contributions by Limited Liability Corporations | (13 - 11) |
| March 28, 2019 | NH | SB 156 | Establishes Limits to Election Contributions by Limited Liability Corporations | (13 - 11) |
| March 26, 2019 | ID | H 270 | Authorizes Public Schools as Election Polling Sites | Bill Passed - Senate (22 - 12) |
| March 22, 2019 | ID | S 1159 | Increases Threshold for Ballot Initiative Requirements | Bill Passed - Senate (18 - 17) |