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Congressional Voting Scorecards
This page provides links to Congressional voting scorecards
issued by political and advocacy groups from across the political
spectrum.
Congressional voting scorecards rate US Senators and
Representatives on their voting records, measured in terms related
to the political views of the group issuing the scorecard.
Most scorecards issue a composite numerical score, usually from
0 (worst) to 100 (best); some also provide details on how individual
members of Congress voted on each key vote.
Each group will chose a different set of votes to consider.
Groups concerned with a narrower set of issues (say, the environment)
will likely use a narrower set of votes than a group with a broad
political agenda (like the liberal Americans for Democratic Action or
the American Conservative Union). Note that because of the sheer number
of Congressional votes, scorecards will reflect a subset of "key" votes.
Users of scorecards should also note other differences between scorecards,
for example in the treatment of missed votes.
Voter's guides attempt to educate
voters on the issue positions of candidates in a particular race. This
page focuses on Congressional score cards, which looks at past voting
records, not voter's guide, which focus on the positions of candidates
(of whom at most one can be an
incumbent). Scorecards may be useful for evaluating incumbents in races,
or nonincumbents who have previously served in Congress in another seat.
Sometimes scorecards make reference to numerical designnations of
sessions of Congress rather than calendar years (e.g., "the 108th
Congress" or "the 107th Congress, first session"). The
Library of Congress
has a good
discussion
of Congressional sessions. The following table lists recent Congresses:
| Congress |
1st Session |
2nd Session |
| 108th | 2003 | 2004 |
| 107th | 2001 | 2002 |
| 106th | 1999 | 2000 |
| 105th | 1997 | 1998 |
These groups are the same ones used in National Journal's
Almanac of American Politics.
The description of each group was chosen by TruthAndPolitics.org and
is intended to be as neutral and unbiased as possible.
Notes:
- Abbreviations:
i: interactive feature; h: House;
s: Senate; pdf: PDF file;
pdfs: HTML page with links to PDF files; na: not available
- Some of the links point to the same page, even though labeled differently
Project Vote Smart has collected scores
from many advocacy organizations, covered a wide range of issues. These can be
found using the link "Interest Group Ratings" (on the left panel, under
"Basic Categories"). You must first select a name (candidate or official) or your
locality (ZIP+4 or state) and then navigate appropriately. Vote Smart also has
Congressional voting records (under "Voting Records") that list key votes by year
and issue category.
Again, the description of each group was chosen by TruthAndPolitics.org and
is intended to be as neutral and unbiased as possible.
Notes:
- Abbreviations:
i: interactive feature; h: House;
s: Senate; pdf: PDF file;
pdfs: HTML page with links to PDF files; na: not available
- Some of the links point to the same page, even though labeled differently
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