This guide describes recorded vote information accessible from Congress.gov, and also suggests supplementary resources.
Congress.gov Vote Information
- "Actions" tab links to record floor votes from legislation, nominations, and treaties
EXAMPLES - House bill (look for "Roll no."); Senate bill (look for "Record Vote Number")
- Congressional Record - All recorded floor votes are published in the Record.
EXAMPLES - House vote (look for "Roll No."); Senate vote (look for "Rollcall Vote No.") - Committee reports - Committee votes are often published in committee reports.
EXAMPLES - House committee vote (look for "VOTES OF THE COMMITTEE"); Senate committee vote (look for "VOTES OF THE COMMITTEE") - Roll Call Votes by the U.S. Congress
This browse report provides access to House and Senate floor votes per session of Congress from the 101st Congress - present.
Note - vote data fields are not searchable within Congress.gov at this time.
Senate Votes
Senate website also provides these specialized vote lists:
Supplementary Third Party Sources for Recorded Votes from House and Senate
Some third party sources compile member voting records, and some partisan or special interest groups rate members based on votes on bills important to their cause. Analyses of voting records range from the scholarly to the blatantly political.
- Voting Records (govTrack)
- Congressional Vote Search (C-SPAN)
- Head-to-Head Voting Comparison (Open Congress)
- Vote Smart (Project Vote Smart)
- Represent - Find lawmakers, votes and bills (ProPublica)
There are a number of print commercial publications that are indispensable in compiling voting records, including: Congressional Quarterly Almanac, Congressional Roll Call, and the Commerce Clearing House's Congressional Index. These publications are accessible via the Web for the last few Congresses only, but hard copies of the Congressional Record, Congressional Record Index, and the House Calendars, both current and historical, are available in any of the Federal Depository Libraries.
About Votes and the Legislative Process
A good basic resource about congressional voting and the legislative process is How Our Laws Are Made. It is a brief explanation of the legislative process in the House written by the House Parliamentarian. For a basic understanding of Senate procedures, consult Enactment of a Law, written by the Senate Parliamentarian.