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

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What comes to mind when you think of Minnesota? Hockey? Lakes? Maybe the movie “Grumpy Old Men”? How about Hotdishes?

As of this morning, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.,has joined an increasingly long list of senators that will not seek reelection in 2014.

We here at Project Vote Smart often lament the lack of civility in Congress and in state legislatures across this nation.

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.

The “Fiscal Cliff” and how it relates to our most recent financial conundrum, “The Sequester.”

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

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Six days after Jesse Jackson Jr. pleaded guilty to the misuse of campaign funds, voters in his long-held district go the polls to begin the process of finding a replacement.

Mike Johanns, the republican senior senator from Nebraska, won't seek reelection in 2014.

New Jersey's senior senator, Frank R. Lautenberg decided today that he will not seek reelection.

Article II, section 3 of the United States constitution lays is out clearly: “Every year the president shall give a really big speech the whole country will watch, half of them eagerly, half of them angrily.” Well, not exactly.

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. 

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Throughout the past decade there has been a national trend of legislation on bullying.

In August 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued an interim final rule concerning contraception.

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

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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.

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

A  20-year study of over 15,000 congressional candidates and their willingness to answer questions on the major issues

Find out more about what a Project Vote Smart internship involves...

VoteEasy is now available for voters in all 50 states.

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

We are still looking for bright, politically-minded individuals for our 2012 National Internship Program available this Summer and Fall 2012. Spend 10-weeks at our beautiful ranch-style research facilities and help us provide citizens with the factual, unbiased information. Trust us, this isn't your typical internship.

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

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

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We threw the spotlight on one of our interns, Megan, and asked her a few questions about her time, so far, here at the Great Divide Ranch...

We threw the spotlight on one of our returning interns, John, and asked him a few questions about his time, so far, here at the Great Divide Ranch...

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.

We are still looking for bright, politically-minded individuals for our 2012 National Internship Program available this Summer and Fall 2012. Spend 10-weeks at our beautiful ranch-style research facilities and help us provide citizens with the factual, unbiased information. Trust us, this isn't your typical internship.

Are you a member of Project Vote Smart? Are you interested in contributing your time to volunteering? Member Janet Paduhovich tells us about her experience volunteering for 2-weeks at the Great Divide Ranch.
For more information on our Member Volunteer Program, click here. 

We threw the spotlight on one of our new interns, Sean, and asked him a few questions about his time, so far, here at the Great Divide Ranch... 
For more information on our National Internship Program, click here. 

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We are still looking for bright, politically-minded individuals for our 2012 National Internship Program available this Summer and Fall 2012. Spend 10-weeks at our beautiful ranch-style research facilities and help us provide citizens with the factual, unbiased information. Trust us, this isn't your typical internship.

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. 

We are still looking for bright, politically-minded individuals for our 2012 National Internship Program available this Summer and Fall 2012. Spend 10-weeks at our beautiful ranch-style research facilities and help us provide citizens with the factual, unbiased information. Trust us, this isn't your typical internship.

The US unemployment rate was published at 8.2% for the month of May, rising a tenth of a point from April's 8.1%. Here's what several congress members had to say about it...

We are still looking for bright, politically-minded individuals for our 2012 National Internship Program available this Summer and Fall 2012. Spend 10-weeks at our beautiful ranch-style research facilities and help us provide citizens with the factual, unbiased information. Trust us, this isn't your typical internship.

Every election year, Project Vote Smart uses the Political Courage Test (PCT) to measure the willingness of candidates to provide their positions on key issues. Find out now if your candidates are currently being tested. 

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As media outlets and bloggers scrambled to find the back story on Democratic Presidential Primary Candidate Keith Judd, who won a surprising 41% of the vote in a West Virginia primary, against his more well-known and better-funded opponent, President Barack Obama, it began to emerge that only one (very) reputable source had bothered to reach out to this possible nominee – us. 

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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.

It's that time again! We're trying  to coax the truth out of politicians across the country with the Political Courage Test. Find out if your candidates are being tested now. 

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What if, following Super Tuesday, all four GOP candidates are still in the game and no clear frontrunner has emerged? 

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

Following the resignation of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Arizona was faced with a unique situation in holding elections to replace the former Congresswoman.

No matter your experience-level or political preference, our researchers are here to answer even your most basic questions on U.S. candidates, officials, issues, and voting.

It's time for every thinking American to saddle up and fight for that most precious component in our struggle to self govern, our right to know.

The South Carolina Republican Presidential Preference Primary is scheduled for Saturday, January, 21st and while in most of our minds there are only four candidates still vying for the GOP nomination, one look at the ballot will tell a slightly different story. 

It was unclear what might be done to ensure that citizens had at least one independent source to easily acquire accurate information, but what we eventually decided upon remains the heart of Project Vote Smart today.

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.

As expected, the Iowa Caucus, the first nominating contest of the 2012 election season, proved to shake things up inside the GOP race.

Give a gift membership to Vote Smart and help us keep our politicians honest – can a sweater do that?

Special elections typically are a result of unusual circumstances, scandal, or tragedy, and the race for Oregon's 1st Congressional district is no exception. 

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

There is one issue that only pops up every decade with noticeable consequences, and that issue is redistricting.

University of Southern California student, and current intern, David Hernandez discusses his experience working as a part of our research team. 

The inability of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, or 'Supercommittee', to come to an agreement to reduce the United States' government debt by over one trillion dollars has prompted a significant response by both Democrats and Republicans. 

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

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.