www.kftc.org | September 9, 2020
8 | Balancing the Scales
Voter Empowerment
Scorecard gives data for holding legislators accountable Every vote a legislator casts is a chance to do the right thing, a choice to support Kentuckians and stand against hate and oppression. Legislators need to know that, in November when 98 of them are running for reelection (63 in a contested race), we remember what choices they made earlier in the year. In the 2020 General Assembly, the KFTC Executive Committee endorsed or opposed 41 total bills and resolutions. KFTC watched and tracked every vote, including committee votes, each legislator made on those bills. What is the scorecard? It’s a Google spreadsheet, viewable online by anyone plus an online interactive map For each legislator, their sponsorships, committee votes and floor votes are listed out. • •
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Categorized by if they align or don’t align with KFTC. Color-coded by issue category: voting rights, healthy democracy, economic justice, health care, LGBTQIA liberation, racial justice, new energy and transition. Aligned and not aligned actions are totaled to calculate a percent alignment with KFTC values for each legislator
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Includes sponsorships and votes for the 41 bills and resolutions that the Executive Committee endorsed or opposed in 2020.
Additional data about each district is included, such as rates of unemployment, poverty, and unaffordable houses, and relevant election turnout and results data
Legislator Scorecard Interactive map (online at: bit.ly/ KFTCLegislativeMap)
Click on your county/district to see that legislator’s score.
Using the scorecard spreadsheet
Look up a legislator in the spreadsheet and:
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Look at their percent alignment to KFTC. Click on their name to jump to the list of specific votes they made in the 2020 General Assembly.
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2020 Legislator Scorecard (online at: bit.ly/KFTCLegislativeScorecard)
Look at additional data included about each district, like “what percentage of folks have unaffordable housing?” and “what’s the unemployment rate?” Create links between this additional data and the votes the legislator made • Use this data to educate voters! Important links bit.ly/KFTCLegislativeScorecard to explore the spreadsheet bit.ly/KFTCLegislativeMap to explore the interactive web map Data isn’t just Census numbers and election turnout percentages. Data can be created and used by us regular folks! Got ideas about how data can support your local organizing? Or want to help produce analysis using the scorecard? Email: lauragreenfield@kftc.org.
