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.


results per page:
Date State Bill No. Title Outcome
March 14, 2018 National HR 4909 STOP School Violence Act of 2018 Bill Passed - House (407 - 10)
May 17, 2018 National PN 1857 Nomination of Gina Haspel to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (54 - 45)
May 17, 2018 National PN 1857 Nomination of Gina Haspel to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Cloture Invoked - Senate (54 - 44)
Aug. 1, 2018 National HR 5515 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 Conference Report Adopted - Senate (87 - 10)
July 26, 2018 National HR 5515 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 Conference Report Adopted - House (359 - 54)
June 18, 2018 National HR 5515 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 Bill Passed - Senate (85 - 10)
May 24, 2018 National HR 5515 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 Bill Passed - House (351 - 66)
Aug. 23, 2018 National S Amdt 3967 Senator Rand Paul's Amendment to H.R. 6157 Amendment Rejected - Senate (45 - 48)
Date No. Title Outcome
3/14 HR 4909 STOP School Violence Act of 2018 Bill Passed - House (407 - 10)
5/17 PN 1857 Nomination of Gina Haspel to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (54 - 45)
5/17 PN 1857 Nomination of Gina Haspel to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Cloture Invoked - Senate (54 - 44)
8/01 HR 5515 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 Conference Report Adopted - Senate (87 - 10)
7/26 HR 5515 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 Conference Report Adopted - House (359 - 54)
6/18 HR 5515 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 Bill Passed - Senate (85 - 10)
5/24 HR 5515 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 Bill Passed - House (351 - 66)
8/23 S Amdt 3967 Senator Rand Paul's Amendment to H.R. 6157 Amendment Rejected - Senate (45 - 48)

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