Step 6. Checking:
All of our votes and bill need to go through 3 checks. The 3rd check must be a staff check. You will check the votes for all the states assigned to you except votes you entered yourself.
The objectives of web checks are to verify that the information on the bill summary is correct and that it has been correctly entered into Admin. You should be able to check most of this information against the State Legislature website. Also as you check the Project Vote Smart synopsis make sure you read any articles that have been collected as well as the bill text to ensure the synopsis is accurate and covers the main issue in the bill. Make sure the synopsis is rooted in the bill text, do not check facts against press. Write any suggestions on the Summary Sheet. When you finish checking return the folder to the writer and explain your comments if necessary.
Steps:
- Go to the state's official legislative site and double check that dates, sponsors, vote breakdowns, and all other information is correct on the bill summary. You will need to find the correct bill version to check highlights.
- Check the internal website to make sure all information was entered correctly.
- Write any changes or suggestions on the Bill Summary sheet.
To get to the PVS bill on the internal web:
1. Go to Mozilla Firefox (internet)
2. Go to our internal site (http://moose.votesmart.org)
3. Choose Issues and Legislation at the top; and then State Key Votes from the Drop Down Menu
4. Choose the state you are working on from the scroll down menu
5. Either choose one of the categories the bill is in or look at summary in folder to find the bill number - type it into bill number search
6. Choose the title that matches the title on the summary in the folder and that has the same action date and outcome
7. This should bring you to the PVS summary
Check for the following against print outs from the legislative site or against the site itself:
- Bill Number
- Date of Action
- Outcome
- Chamber
- Vote Split - ie (23 - 12)
- Official Title (if any)
- Official Synopsis (if any)
- Sponsor (if any)
- Roll Number (if any)
Check that all the categories on the summary sheet are showing up and that you agree with the categories the bill has been placed in.
Check the PVS title, highlights, and synopsis for spelling, grammar, clarity, non-partisanship, and plagiarism. Some bills do not warrant highlights or a PVS synopsis, but make sure that if these are missing that you agree that the official synopsis is adequate.
Carefully check that the writer used the correct bill version. Click on Link to Full Text of Legislation: check that the link works and takes you to the correct bill.
Check other status at the bottom of the page against actions list on the state legislature site. Make sure all major actions are showing, including original passage in both chambers, final passage in both chambers (or committee referral), and governor action.
Then click on link at top that says "How Members Voted". Spot check the vote breakdown against a print out from the state legislature site or against the site itself.
Once you are done with a check, place the folder in your team's "In Progress" folder so the writer can make changes.
After a vote has completed the checking process (including the Staff Check) it will be returned to the writer for final changes. The writer then returns the vote to the staff member who checked it. The staff member releases it to the live web and changes it to yellow in the Spreadsheet.
