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Vote Entering - Entering Votes in Admin Guide

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For a quick checklist of this Guide, visit the Vote Entry Checklist.

1. Searching For and Creating Admin Entries

The first step to entering a vote is to search for existing Admin entries for that legislation. We cannot have two entries for one piece of legislation in Admin.

When searching for an existing Admin entry, remember to select the correct state and ensure that the date range is correct for that legislation. The only thing you need to type into the search box is the bill number.

If your search DOES produce an entry, open that entry and skip the requirements for the introduced status (#2) and proceed to insert "Key Vote" statuses (#3).

• Note: If you are entering a vote(s) for legislation that already has an entry in admin, be sure to check the state legislature website for any changes to the sponsors and co-sponsors and update the introduced status to reflect them.

If your search does NOT produce an existing entry, proceed to create a new entry for that state by selecting the state from the lower drop down menu and clicking the "Add new for" button. After clicking the button, a new tab should open.

Screenshot Guide

2. Introduced Status

Introduction is the first stage in the life of legislation and the first status you will enter in Admin. Every single bill will have an introduced status.

You will initially enter:
Enter the information into the appropriate fields in Admin. Then click save, creating an entry for the bill in Admin. This will allow you to enter the rest of the necessary information.

Open the status to enter the rank and title and access the View/Votes Action button. Enter a numeral 1 in the rank field. Uncheck the “no title” box and enter a title based on a preliminary reading of the press file and text. Then, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the View Votes/Actions button to enter sponsors.

The View Votes/Actions button will always open a new tab in Admin. At the top of the page is a row of buttons followed by a large blank space. Below the blank space is a list of every legislator. Using Ctrl+F, search for the bills sponsors. Be wary of legislators with the same last name. When you are sure you have the correct legislator, click the “Add” button next to their name. This will send the legislator up into the blank space, where a list of legislators and their actions will form. The action will always default to “Co-sponsor.” To change the action, click the legislator's name. A drop down menu of actions will appear. Select “Sponsor” and save. If you do not save for each legislator the actions will not update correctly. When you have added all sponsors and co-sponsors and assigned the correct actions to them, simply close the tab. The View Votes/Actions tab saves automatically when closed. Be sure to save the status itself in the main Admin page as well.

• WARNING: When uploading sponsors and cosponsors, DO NOT click the "Add _ State Legislators" button. Although it doesn't affect the live website, if clicked, you will have to individually delete all members.

• Note: If you have difficulty finding the sponsor(s) and co-sponsor(s) for a bill, or are unsure whether an individual should be classified as a sponsor or co-sponsor, you may use the Guide to Finding Sponsors and Co-Sponsors in Each State. The guide contains helpful, state-specific information about how to find and properly classify sponsors and co-sponsors.

Some states allow bills to be sponsored by legislative committee, and the process for entering that information is slightly difference. It is done in the Committee Actions tab, and you can find instructions for entering them on the committee sponsors wiki.

Entering sponsors is the last step to creating an introduced status. Be sure to double check the data to make sure it has all been entered correctly. Do not input any additional information into the introduced status.

Screenshot Guide

3. First "Key Vote" Status

After creating the introduced status, or upon opening an existing entry, you must create the Key Vote status.

To begin, click the "Add New Status" button above the list of statuses (which at this point will only list the introduced status).

• Note: Do not reopen the introduced status using the "View" button and proceed to input the information for the first "key vote" status. Always click the "Add New Status" button and proceed from there.

First, input the following information:


Then, click the "Key Vote" check box, located just above the "Yea" and "Nay" text boxes. This identifies the status in admin as a "key vote," rather than another type of status.

To reuse the title created during the introduced status, deselect the “No Title” box. The “Reuse Previous Title” drop down defaults to “Yes,” so the title field should automatically populate with the previous title.

Deselect the “No Highlight” box. Because no previous highlights exist, the “Use Previous” drop down should default to “No.” Copy and paste the temporary highlight into this field. Go through the same steps for the synopsis field, and enter a temporary synopsis based on a preliminary reading of the press file and bill text.

At this point, scroll down and save the status. The bill text and voting record cannot be entered until the status has been saved. Although categories and tags can be entered beforehand, tags will not save properly and you will just have to re-enter them.

Open the status and scroll down to the categories field and deselect the "No category" box, located above the list of categories. Enter all applicable categories and tags, relying on your categories and tags training.

Below the tags box are a group of boxes and buttons managing the bill text. There is a “No text” box on the left side; deselect it. Click the “Choose file” button on the right to open your computer's documents window. Locate the correct bill text and select the file. Only a pdf will work; the “.pdf” suffix must be lowercase or the file will not upload correctly. When you have selected the file, click the “Upload” button. When the file has uploaded a successful upload message will appear above the “Choose file” button. There should also be a file name in the “Bill Text” field to the left.

• Note: if you are replacing an existing bill text in the Key Vote status, you MUST click the "Overwrite" check box located below the "Choose file" button. This still applies if you have clicked the "clear" button and there is no file listed in the "text file name" text box.

At this point you may want to save the status again to ensure you don't lose any work. To enter votes, click the View Votes/Actions button as you did to enter sponsors. Do not click the Add Legislators button. This will add all legislators from both chambers and you will have to manually delete them. Using Ctrl+F, search for the legislators that appear on the voting record. The action defaults to “Yea,” so you will only need to amend the actions for Nays, Did Not Votes, and pair votes. Everyone will have their own method of moving through the vote breakdown and entering the votes into Admin. Use whatever method is most comfortable for you, just be sure to double check your work.

The vote breakdown will likely contain at least one type of action that does not appear on the drop down menu. These are designations like “abstained” and “excused;” for our purposes these will be recorded as “Did Not Vote.” Pair votes are exceedingly rare and will be clearly indicated on the vote breakdown. In this case be sure to assign both legislators a pair vote.

If you come across a legislator who is on the voting record but not listed in Admin, notify a staff member. This is usually the result of a mistake in Profiles or a legislator who has left office since the vote happened. If you come across a legislator who is listed in Admin but not on the voting record, this is a matter of lesser concern. This is usually the result of a legislator who entered office after the vote occurred.

Entering a vote incorrectly can be a very serious matter. It is of the utmost importance that you work slowly and carefully when entering a voting record. We would much rather you spend an inordinate amount of time entering a voting record than enter a vote erroneously. Take note of legislators with the same name, legislators listed by title, and any votes that were changed after the roll call.

When you have finished entering the voting record, simply close the tab. It will save automatically. Save the status again. You have now completed a Key Vote status.

Screenshot Guide

4. Second "Key Vote" Status (if applicable)

If multiple votes for one piece of legislation were selected, you should now create a second Key Vote status. Otherwise skip this step and create any necessary non-Key Vote statuses (#5).

To begin, click the "Add New Status" button.

You will first enter:


You will always reuse the title you previously assigned to the legislation. This is important for consistency and ease of use for our users. Deselect the “No title” check box and ensure that the drop down is set to “Yes.” Because you have already entered the temporary highlight, you should be able to do the same thing for the highlights field and reuse the previous highlight.

You will very rarely be able to completely reuse the previous synopsis. Different types of votes require different intro phrases, so unless both votes are straightforward “Passage” stages you will need to create a new synopsis at least for that reason. Any amendments to a piece of legislation may also have changed the bill enough to change the substance of your synopsis. Deselect the “No synopsis” check box and set the “use previous” drop down to “No” to create a new synopsis.

You will usually be able to reuse categories and tags. However if the legislation has been significantly changed between stages it may merit changes. Deselect the “No categories” check box. Ensure that the “use previous” drop down is set to the correct options for your purposes.

Whether or not you are able to reuse the bill text depends entirely on whether the text has been amended. If it has, be sure to set the use previous drop down to “No” and go through the same upload process as early. Be sure to click the “Overwrite” check box or the correct text will not upload.

After you save the status, you can open the View Votes/Actions window and enter the voting record for this stage just as you did for the previous Key Vote status.

Screenshot Guide
*(Same Screenshots as First Key Vote - only difference is you have the ability to utilize the same title, synopsis, bill text, categories, and tags.)

5. Other Statuses

There are other stages in the life of a bill that require an Admin status. These are primarily full chamber votes that do not qualify as Key Votes. Sometimes, particularly if the bill has died and the session has ended, we will enter a Referred to committee status. However, the vast majority of non-Key Vote statuses will be full chamber votes and that is the process that will be outlined here.

For a non-Key Vote, full chamber vote status you will enter:

It is not necessary to enter categories and tags for a non-Key Vote status. However, entering categories and tags will ensure that you can use previous for other Key Votes or Governor's Status that come after this non-Key Vote status. It doesn't affect the live site, so it's ultimately up to you.

Do not enter highlights, a synopsis, bill text, or voting records for a non-Key Vote status. Do not select the Key Vote check box. If the vote was a voice vote, meaning that there are no Yeas and Nays to be entered, select the Voice Vote check box.

At this point you can save the status and move on to any additional non-Key Vote statuses.

Screenshot Guide

6. Governor's Status

For a Governor's status, you will enter:

After you have saved the status the next step will differ depending on the governor's action.

• If the governor signed the bill: Open the View Votes/Actions tab. Select the governor from the list of legislators. Change the action to “Signed” and save.
• If the governor allowed the bill to pass without signature: Do nothing. You are finished with this status.
• If the governor vetoed the bill: Do not enter this status here. There is a different procedure for vetoes entirely.

Screenshot Guide

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Key Votes Homepage | Training Guide | Summary Writing Guide | Vote Entering Guide | Congress Guide | Status Update Guide | Web Check Guide

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• 2018-02-02 10:50:49
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