Records cache: The answer is out there

On the Web
State of New Jersey -ftp://www.njleg.state.nj.us
State of New Hampshire - http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/ns/
Commonwealth of Massachusetts - http://www.mass.gov/legis/legis.htm
U.S. House of Representatives - http://www.house.gov/
U.S. Senate - http://www.senate.gov/

VOTE, PLEASE
How to search

Here are a few tips to locate voting records on the Internet.

·To find a particular state, type that state's name into a search engine (Google or Yahoo). When the results appear, select the state's home page.

·Once there, access the site's legislature page.

·If voting records are not immediately noticeable, then find the "faqs" section (frequently asked questions). Search for a section on voting records.

·Know what legislation and legislative session you want. Most sites allow visitors to search by bill number or use of a key word.

·Still lost? Locate the site's "contact" page. Send an e-mail to its Webmaster or call the support staff for assistance.


NATION: States differ in providing legislators' individual voting records online.

PAT LITOWITZ
plitowitz@ncnewsonline.com

New Hampshire's officials once opposed the move, while Massachusetts made the journey taxing.

New Jersey? Atlantic City's slot machines give better odds.

The three states are among the 46 nationwide that offer legislators' individual voting records online. Lacking a national standard, states employ varied approaches in presenting voting records to Web users.

Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Mississippi and New Mexico do not offer roll-call votes online.

Of the 46 states' Web sites reviewed, New Hampshire deserves notice for the pro-public manner in which open records are exhibited. A trip to the Granite State's home page followed by a link to a legislator's site gets you started.

In other words, two clicks and you're in.

"We get good comments from people," said Dave Nadeau, assistant manager and senior software engineer for New Hampshire's general court information systems. "People seem to think it's friendly."

A change in attitude allowed voting records to be offered on the Web in 1999.

"There was some opposition to it for quite a while as far as being allowed to show the votes on the 'Net," Nadeau said. "(Legislators) were a little bit protective ... in the past."

New Hampshire shows votes two ways: by legislation and by legislator. Web sites from the U.S. House and Senate are equally user-friendly.

Massachusetts joins a number of states such as Ohio and West Virginia that present individual votes of lawmakers through online journals. The journals serve as the official record for a state's legislative bodies - and add more steps to the search process.

In addition to knowing the bill number, some state Web sites require the date the legislation was voted on and the journal page number. Once located, the site visitor heads to the state's online journal and continues the search.

New Jersey's site reflects the efforts of its counterparts. Visitors can easily access bill information, state laws and a legislator seating chart among the items listed.

Yes, roll-call votes also are given. Just one problem - there's nowhere on the site that directs visitors to them.

"I think we should have something in the faqs (frequently asked questions section)," noted Harold Berkowitz, chief technology officer of the state's Data Management Unit.

Actually -no.

The votes are found in the state's download section, which is on the New Jersey Legislature's home page. After they are located, the user must "unzip" the file that holds them.
"We take the votes straight off the voting machine," Berkowitz said.

"The programming to put it on the legislators' site itself isn't that daunting. It's just very time consuming."

As for better location promotion, Berkowitz said an addition to the faqs will appear soon.

"We should put that in there."

Copyright (c) 2005, New Castle News