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October 25, 2006
Voting Records
Negative campaign ads scream that the opposing candidate voted against God, motherhood, and apple pie. Checking voting records can reveal the context of particular votes and a pattern that indicates where the candidate really stands.
washingtonpost.com maintains a U.S. Congress Votes Database that contains every vote in the United States Congress since the 102nd Congress (1991).
C-SPAN’s Votes Library goes back to the 104th Congress, Second Session (1996).
Project Vote Smart provides access to records of state legislators as well as federal for key votes. The site also has other information about candidates, including statements of their positions on issues and ratings by interest groups.
The Congressional Record transcribes floor action and is the ultimate source of roll call votes in Congress. THOMAS, the Library of Congress’s legislative site, explains how to search it on the web in Compiling a Member Voting Record.
Project Vote-Smart compiles key votes by state, searchable by issue, bill number, or keyword. You can also reach legislators' voting records from their own page at Project Vote-Smart. Also try groups interested in particular issues.
Finding state legislators’ complete voting records involves more work. The Illinois counterparts to the Congressional Record are the House and Senate journals, available at the Illinois General Assembly's web site. Each chamber’s journal records the actions taken on the House or Senate floor each legislative day. Transcripts of the proceedings are also available there but must be searched by legislative day. Legislators' votes on specific bills can be tracked through their pages at the Illinois General Assembly's web site.
Posted by hinsdalereference at October 25, 2006 7:58 PM