Has your state recently passed a Voter ID law? Want to know what the arguments for/ against this legislation are? Read our non-partisan breakdown of this heated political issue: 

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Preferring to protect themselves from opposition research, only 20% of the 1282 candidates for Congress were willing to provide voters or media with direct answers to the issue questions on Vote Smart’s National Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving New Hampshire voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Fifty-one of the congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Maine voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Twenty-three congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Texas voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Forty-six of the congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving New York voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Eleven of the congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test. 

 Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Minnesota voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Thirty congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.
 

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Iowa voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Eleven congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving South Carolina voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Eight of the congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Nebraska voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Six congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.  

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving North Carolina voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Twenty-two of the congressional and state legislative candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Tennessee voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Twenty of the congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Kansas voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Twenty-one congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

 Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Delaware voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Nine of the congressional and state legislative candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

 Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Mississippi voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Three of the congressional candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test. 

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Alabama voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Seven congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Vermont voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Fifteen of the congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving New Jersey voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Nine of the congressional candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Illinois voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Thirteen congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Maryland voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Twenty-two congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Oklahoma voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Nine of the congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving West Virginia voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Ten of the congressional and state legislative candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Pennsylvania voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Seventeen of the congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Rhode Island voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Nine of the congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Virginia voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Seven of the congressional candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Louisiana voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Four of the congressional candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving South Dakota voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Nine of the congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving North Dakota voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Five of the congressional and state legislative candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Indiana voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Seventeen of the congressional and state legislative candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test. 

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Missouri voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Twelve of the congressional and state legislative candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Oregon voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Twenty-one of the congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Washington voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Twenty-three of the congressional and state legislative candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.
 

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving California voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Twenty-eight congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Nevada voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Fourteen congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Hawaii voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Sixteen congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.
 

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Alaska voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Thirteen congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Montana voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Forty-six of the congressional and state legislative candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving New Mexico voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Four of the congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test. 
 

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Utah voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Twenty-four of the congressional and state legislative candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Idaho voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Nineteen congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Arizona voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Nineteen congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Wyoming voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Fifteen of the congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to VoteEasy at VoteSmart.org, giving Ohio voters an invaluable resource for identifying their best political match November 4th. Twenty of the congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.

Vote Smart announced today that the 2014 Voter’s Self-Defense Manual is available free to all voters by simply calling 888-VoteSmart or emailing membership@votesmart.org.

Today, Vote Smart announces the unveiling of its powerful new tools that provide every citizen interactive, instant access to the facts on any politician, on any issue, at any time.

Three prominent political research experts, Brooks Jackson, Ted McConnell, and Sheila Krumholz, have joined the board of Vote Smart (VoteSmart.org), the leading non-partisan national research organization focused on politicians and elections.

Vote Smart (VoteSmart.org), the leading non-partisan national research organization focused on politicians and elections, announced a series of massive additions to its factual database on over 150,000 current and former elected officials and candidates. 

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We are only a few weeks away from announcing the biggest event in Vote Smart history.  It will transform the way you use our data and the way you view candidates and elections in the future. 

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On November 21, 2013, the Senate voted 52-48 to amend the rules regarding confirmation of executive and judicial nominees.

It's Election Day! Well, for many of you it is.

Vote Smart first partnered with the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life in 2011, and they have graciously housed our office at the University of Texas, Austin since then. Our partnership has been going so well that, for the first time, we have been able to establish an intern program during the summer months, where college students can experience our Key Votes Department through researching bills and compiling voting records.

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After Wednesday's vote in the Senate on President Obama's proposed gun bill, the Internet was rife with mixed emotions.

The Keystone XL Pipeline: it's been dominating headlines for what seems like forever...

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For over a decade Vote Smart worked at various methods of building the Voter’s Self-Defense System.

Vote Smart exists to help citizens and organizations trying to provide citizens with easy access to abundant, accurate, relevant information about those who govern or those who wish to replace those who do.

Immigration: it's an issue that's been on the minds of a lot of prominent people involved in politics lately.

Recently, something called an “assault weapons ban” has been making major news.

With new technology comes new debates and in 2012 many state legislatures attempted to regulate a relatively new industry they did not know much about. 

States across America considered legislation in their most recent sessions that would change voting and voter registration requirements.

There's still time to make your 2013 Membership contribution before the Dec. 31st tax deadline!  

The North Carolina General Assembly has biennial sessions with a regular long session in odd years and a short session held on even years.

Read our November Common Ground E-Newsletter here...

Over the past few years, the country has witnessed an abundance of legislation on both the state and national levels regarding same-sex marriage.

During the 2012 election cycle, 1.5 million NEW users discovered Vote Smart adding to the millions already "voting smart." 

Find out if your state allows for same-day registration.

Vote Smart announces today their added technological capacity which is now sufficient to handle the millions of undecided voters expected to use its award-winning candidate match tool, VoteEasy. 

VoteEasy is now available for voters in all 50 states.

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Find out if your state-level candidates have shown courage in their 2012 campaigns. 

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For those of you living under rocks, Mitt Romney announced his running mate last Saturday – Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan. You've probably heard a fair amount about Ryan, probably about his time spent as chair of the House Budget committee, and the budget proposal he crafted. But what about the information voters really want to know, like the fact that he's a fan of Monty Python*? At votesmart.org you can find out all you need to know (and more) about both vice-presidential contenders.

With the the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission Supreme Court ruling, parts of four decades of campaign finance regulation were ruled unconstitutional.  

The United States House Appropriations Committee recently approved the Fiscal Year 2013 Interior-Environment Appropriations Funding Bill.  

The opening ceremony for the 2012 summer Olympics officially begins on Friday July 27th, but here at Project Vote Smart we’re interested in a different race – the Presidential Election.  And while the 10,500 athletes are proudly representing their respective countries, Project Vote Smart staff and interns are hard at work researching the over 40,000 candidates and officials fighting to represent us.

At votesmart.org you can find out how your representatives feel about defense and defense spending in a few different ways: 

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We celebrate the 4th of July with parades, barbecues and fireworks and sometimes forget about the 14th of January, “Ratification Day”, which commemorates the ratification of the Treaty of Paris in 1784; 8 hard fought years after the Declaration of Independence was signed. And it wasn't just 8 years of suffering and sacrifice that secured the promise laid down in that original document. In many ways we're still fighting for it today. 

The Supreme Court are expected to announce their decision on the constitutionality of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 this week. Read some recent comments on this issue here.

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The February 26 shooting of Trayvon Martin has ignited a media firestorm surrounding so-called “stand your ground” or “castle doctrine” laws in the United States. 

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At PVS, interns and staff contribute to a comprehensive research library of information on local and national politics, which can be easily utilized on the PVS website.

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Legislators describe the difficulties of choosing sides in contentious and emotionally-charged debate. 

We released the 2012 Political Courage Test results today for Oregon's special election showing neither major party congressional candidate running for the state's 1st Congressional District seat was willing to answer even the most basic issue-related questions addressed inside the Test.

"...an increase in the amount of tomato paste required for the paste to be considered a serving of vegetables." Do you agree? 

The U.S. Congress Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction was established with the goal of improving both the short and long term financial outlook of the US and reducing the deficit “...by at least $1,500,000,000 over the period of fiscal years 2012 to 2021” But they missed their deadline...

Our Legislative Research Department’s primary responsibility of tracking legislation at the state and federal levels has been so well-received that we are thinking about expanding to other areas that might be useful to voters, but we need your input.

Voters aren’t stupid; they know that political ads are emotionally deceptive, and they hunger for real facts. Project Vote Smart can help. Why do I volunteer here? Because it matters.

Research intern Julie Bissinger takes a closer look at what the 2012 presidential candidates have said recently on the issue of health care.

With the presidential election exactly one year away, Project Vote Smart has launched VoteEasy (winner of the best there is at the 2011 Webvisionary Awards), the interactive tool for voters to instantly see which presidential candidate they are most compatible with. To use VoteEasy now visit www.votesmart.org.

The 2011 Webvisonary Awards (Web Academy Awards) selects VoteEasy as the best there is.  

Project Vote Smart is putting a BIG GUARD DOG onto the political playing field. Today VoteEasy will go national with the attached release.  It has not been easy to create and we need your help to build on it. Even if you be a contributing member or volunteer, please use it to defend yourself from the political nonesense that frustrates and often disgusts us all.