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Ben Nelson's Ratings and Endorsements on Issue: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

Vote Smart displays all known interest group ratings for each candidate and official, regardless of issue or bias.

Keep in mind that ratings done by special interest groups often do not represent a non-partisan stance. In addition, some groups select votes that tend to favor members of one political party over another, rather than choosing votes based solely on issue concerns. Nevertheless, they can be invaluable in showing where an incumbent has stood on a series of votes in the past one or two years, especially when ratings by groups on all sides of an issue are compared. Website links, if available, and descriptions of the organizations offering performance evaluations are accessible by clicking on the name of the group.

With rare exceptions, Vote Smart displays interest group ratings as a 0-100 percentage. While many interest groups use percentages as ratings to begin with, please note that Vote Smart has translated some ratings to a percentage from a different rating system for consistency and ease in understanding. Please visit the group's website, email us at ratings@votesmart.org or call our Voter Information Hotline at 1-888-VOTESMART for more specific information.

53%
2009-2010
50%
2007-2008
71
2007
17%
2005-2006
33%
2003-2004
60%
2001-2002
75%
2001
0%
2001
0%
2001
42%
2011
33%
2010
73%
2009
67
2008
80
2007
38%
2005
71%
2004
83%
2003
13%
2012
67%
2006-2012
67%
2006-2012
75%
2009-2010
75%
2009-2010
65%
2007-2008
65%
2007-2008
11%
2005-2006
11%
2005-2006
25%
2003-2004
25%
2003-2004
43%
2001-2002
43%
2001-2002
40%
2001
66%
2007
100%
2007
100%
2007
50%
2007
54%
2001-2002
45%
2009
34%
2007
33%
2007
75%
2005
40%
2005
58%
2005
55%
2004
50
2003
50
2003
50
2003
56
2002
56
2002
56
2002
52%
2001
100%
2007-2008
100%
2007-2008
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