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Arlen Specter's Ratings and Endorsements on Issue: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

Deceased

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.

100%
2001
100%
2001
82%
2009
56
2008
50
2007
0%
2006
29%
2005
50%
2004
83%
2003
33%
2006-2012
33%
2006-2012
70%
2007-2008
70%
2007-2008
67%
2005-2006
67%
2005-2006
50%
2003-2004
50%
2003-2004
86%
2001-2002
86%
2001-2002
100%
2001
86%
1999-2000
86%
1999-2000
67%
1999
83%
1997-1998
83%
1997-1998
89%
1995-1996
89%
1995-1996
44%
2007
100%
2007
25%
2007
66%
2007
27%
1991-1992
43%
2005-2010
38%
2001-2002
17%
2009
49%
2007
54%
2007
66%
2005
53%
2005
79%
2005
76%
2004
80
2003
80
2003
80
2003
75
2002
75
2002
75
2002
58%
2001
55%
2000
100%
2007-2008
100%
2007-2008
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