About the vote tracker

The vote tracker shows how the Massachusetts House and Senate voted, bill by bill, straight from the Legislature’s official record. Here is what it includes, what it leaves out, and how to read it.

Where the information comes from

Every vote, count and name comes from the Massachusetts Legislature’s own records at malegislature.gov: the official roll call sheets, bill records and member lists.
Each vote page links to the official roll call and the bill, so you can check it yourself.
We don’t use news stories, campaign materials or advocacy groups as sources.
Legislator photos are the official photos published by the Massachusetts Legislature, cropped to the face. Everyone gets the same size and frame.

Only recorded votes are included

The tracker lists roll call votes, where each member’s vote is written down. Many bills pass on a voice vote, where the chamber says “yes” or “no” together and nobody’s individual vote is recorded. Those votes don’t appear here, because there’s no record of how each person voted. A legislator’s page is not a complete list of everything they’ve supported or opposed.

How to read a vote

Not every vote is on the whole bill. Many votes are on amendments (proposed changes), on procedural steps, or on moving a bill forward. Each vote page says what that specific vote was about, in plain words and in the official wording.
A bill usually gets several votes. “Approve the bill in this chamber” means it still needs the other chamber. “Final approval before the bill goes to the Governor” is the last vote before the Governor decides.
“Did not vote” can mean a member was absent, excused, or chose not to vote. The record doesn’t say why, and neither do we.
Veto overrides need two-thirds of those voting, not just a majority.
Plain-language labels (“Final approval before the bill goes to the Governor”) are MassVoter’s wording to help readers. The official wording is always shown underneath.

Summaries

Some bills have a short “What it means” summary. Summaries are based only on the official bill text and the Legislature’s own bill summaries. They describe what the bill does, not whether it’s a good idea, and each one is reviewed before it appears.

Sponsors and co-sponsors

Sponsors and co-sponsors come from the Legislature’s bill records.
Most bills that reach a recorded vote have been rewritten by a committee (often Ways and Means). For those, the official sponsor is the committee, and the legislators who filed the original versions are listed on malegislature.gov.
A legislator’s “sponsored” and “co-sponsored” lists only include bills that got a recorded vote.

Finding your legislators

Typing your town shows the legislators whose districts include it, using the district lines in effect since 2023.
Some towns are split between districts. When that happens we list everyone who represents part of the town; which one is yours depends on your street.
For sessions before 2023 the district lines were different, so looking up by town isn’t available for those years yet.
The town you type is used only to show the page. We don’t save it.

Names and sessions

The Legislature works in two-year sessions (for example, 2025–2026). Vote numbers start over each session.
Each legislator has one page covering every session in the tracker. If someone changed their name, their page uses their current name and shows the earlier name for earlier sessions.
Party is shown as the Legislature lists it, next to each legislator’s district. MassVoter never compares, groups or ranks legislators by party.

What we don’t do

We never grade, score or rank legislators, and we don’t add up anyone’s votes into a rating.
We don’t describe votes as good or bad, or say which side a vote helps.
We don’t run political ads on the vote tracker or legislator pages. Ads that do appear are labeled and never affect what’s shown.

Known gaps

The official records are sometimes incomplete. A small number of votes are missing a date or a bill title because the Legislature’s records don’t include them. When that happens we leave it blank rather than guess, and we fill it in when the information becomes available. The Legislature also notes that its online journals are posted before they’re proofread.

Spot a mistake?

Email info@massvoter.com with the vote or page. We’ll check it against the official record and fix it.