WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Club for Growth Foundation today announced a new effort designed to shed light on which state legislators are doing their jobs by voting and which ones aren’t. The newly launched Missed Votes Scorecards calculate how often lawmakers show up to vote and how often they miss votes.
The Foundation released new 2020 Missed Votes scorecards for Alabama, Idaho, New Hampshire, and Wyoming. Yellowhammer News published an exclusive report on the announcement. These scorecards are calculated based on floor votes taken by both legislative chambers in each state.
Lawmakers miss votes for a whole host of reasons, including medical issues, family concerns, or prior commitments. But they may also miss votes because they are purposely ducking an issue or do not want to upset leadership. The Club for Growth Foundation makes no judgment on why a lawmaker misses votes. The Foundation simply publishes this quantified information for educational purposes only.
According to Club for Growth Foundation President David McIntosh, “It is important that constituents have the missed votes records of their representatives so they can decide for themselves if elected officials are dodging tough votes or if they have legitimate reasons for missing a particular vote. Sadly, missed vote information isn’t readily available, and constituents often don’t know when their representatives skip a critical vote.”
“Regardless of whether they are Republican or Democrat, taxpayers expect their representatives to show up on time and take key votes on important issues. State legislators should be doing the bare minimum and voting every time they can. After all, that is what they are elected to do. These representatives are being paid to vote, and it often feels like they’re stealing money from the people of the state when they don’t. The Missed Votes Scorecards are a valuable tool that taxpayers can use to hold their elected representatives accountable.”
Key Insights
Average amount of missed votes by state:
- Alabama Senate: 15%
Alabama House: 30%
Alabama Senate Republican: 10%
Alabama Senate Democrat: 33%
Alabama House Republican: 24%
Alabama House Democrat: 47% - Idaho Senate: 4%
Idaho House: 4%
Idaho Senate Republican: 4%
Idaho Senate Democrat: 7%
Idaho House Republican: 3%
Idaho House Democrat: 6% - New Hampshire Senate: 1%
New Hampshire House: 17%
New Hampshire Senate Republican: 0%
New Hampshire Senate Democrat: 1%
New Hampshire House Republican: 19%
New Hampshire House Democrat: 15% - Wyoming Senate: 3%
Wyoming House: 2%
Wyoming Senate Republican: 3%
Wyoming Senate Democrat: 0%
Wyoming House Republican: 3%
Wyoming House Democrat: 1%
For all Missed Votes scores and methodology, click here.