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 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nov. 29, 2022 | National | HR 8404 | Respect for Marriage Act | Bill Passed - Senate (61 - 36) |
Nov. 16, 2022 | National | HR 8404 | Respect for Marriage Act | Cloture Invoked - Senate (62 - 37) |
March 6, 2021 | National | S Amdt 1386 | Prohibits funds made available under title II to States, local educational agencies, and institutions of higher education that permit any student whose biological sex is male to participate in an athletic program or activity designated for women or girls. | Amendment Rejected - Senate (49 - 50) |
Nov. 7, 2013 | National | S 815 | Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2013 | Bill Passed - Senate (64 - 32) |
Nov. 7, 2013 | National | S Amdt 2013 | Exempts Religiously Affiliated Employers from the Prohibition on Employment Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity | Amendment Rejected - Senate (43 - 55) |
Nov. 4, 2013 | National | S 815 | Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2013 | Cloture Invoked - Senate (61 - 30) |
Feb. 12, 2013 | National | S 47 | Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 | Bill Passed - Senate (78 - 22) |
April 26, 2012 | National | S 1925 | Reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act | Bill Passed - Senate (68 - 31) |
Dec. 18, 2010 | National | HR 2965 | Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (65 - 31) |
Oct. 22, 2009 | National | HR 2647 | 2009-2010 Defense Appropriations | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (68 - 29) |
June 7, 2006 | National | S J Res 1 | Same Sex Marriage Resolution | Cloture Not Invoked - Senate (49 - 48) |
July 14, 2004 | National | S J Res 40 | Federal Marriage Amendment | Cloture Not Invoked - Senate (48 - 50) |
June 11, 2002 | National | S 625 | Hate Crimes Bill | Cloture Not Invoked - Senate (54 - 43) |
June 20, 2000 | National | S Amdt 3473 | Hate Crimes Amendment | Amendment Adopted - Senate (57 - 42) |
Sept. 10, 1996 | National | HR 3396 | Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) | Bill Passed - Senate (85 - 14) |
Sept. 10, 1996 | National | S 2056 | Employment Nondiscrimination Act of 1996 | Bill Failed - Senate (49 - 50) |
July 20, 1994 | National | S Amdt 2320 | Department of Agriculture Homosexual Policy Amendment | Amendment Adopted - Senate (59 - 41) |
Sept. 9, 1993 | National | S Amdt 783 | Homosexuals in the Military Amendment | Amendment Rejected - Senate (33 - 63) |
Feb. 4, 1993 | National | S Amdt 19 | Homosexual Discrimination in the Military Amendment | Amendment Tabled - Senate (62 - 37) |
April 2, 1992 | National | S Amdt 1757 | Prohibiting Federal Funding of Human Sexual Behavior Surveys | Amendment Adopted - Senate (51 - 46) |