Terms to Know

When a lawmaker adds their name to a bill to show formal support, without being the one who introduced it.

Co-sponsoring a bill is a documented, public commitment. On BlackVoteWatch, co-sponsoring H.R. 40 is treated as a meaningful signal of reparations support — it is one of the clearest on-record positions a member can take.

The top member of the minority party on a congressional committee.

The ranking member has real power to shape committee hearings, slow or advance legislation, and signal priorities. On BlackVoteWatch, holding this role increases the Accountability Score weight because the position comes with institutional leverage — whether or not the member uses it.

The process Congress uses to authorize how federal money gets spent each year.

Appropriations committees decide whether funded programs actually receive money. A member on an Appropriations committee can direct funding toward or away from programs that directly affect Black communities — making their committee record a meaningful part of their accountability assessment.

A vote taken by the full House or Senate — not just a committee.

A bill must survive committee referral before it can reach a floor vote. Most bills never get there. When a member votes on the floor, that vote is part of the public record and is scored on BlackVoteWatch.

A Senate procedure that ends debate and allows a vote to happen. Getting cloture requires 60 votes.

Without cloture, a bill can be blocked indefinitely through extended debate — commonly called a filibuster. This procedural requirement means that many bills with majority support never reach a final vote. Senate leaders' willingness to pursue cloture is part of how BlackVoteWatch assesses structural failure.

When a bill is sent to a committee for review before the full chamber can vote on it.

Most bills die in committee and never reach a floor vote. Committee members and chairs have significant power over which bills move forward — making committee-level inaction a relevant part of the accountability record.

A measure of how a member's votes, bill sponsorships, and documented positions affect Black Americans in practice.

Issue categories — criminal justice, housing, reparations, education, healthcare, voting rights, and wealth gap — are weighted equally. The policy score is based entirely on the public record: floor votes, co-sponsorships, and documented positions.

A measure of how a member has used — or failed to use — their power in relation to Black American voters and Black-specific outcomes.

The accountability score considers institutional leverage, donor conflicts, red flags, and whether a member's position has produced documented Black-specific outcomes. Members with more power carry a heavier accountability burden, because greater leverage creates greater responsibility.

Documented use of committee authority, floor leadership, bill sponsorship, or institutional position to produce outcomes that benefit Black Americans.

Having power is not the same as deploying it. A senator who chairs a relevant committee and produces no Black-specific legislative outcomes from that position does not receive credit for the title — only for the work.

When a politician had real power to act and did not use it.

Structural failure is a failure of omission, not hostility. It is distinct from active opposition. A Senate Majority Leader who controls the floor schedule and never brings reparations legislation to a vote has committed a structural failure — not because they voted against it, but because they had the leverage to move it and chose not to.

When a member explicitly votes against, blocks, or undermines legislation or policies that would benefit Black Americans.

Active opposition is more severe than structural failure. It includes hostile votes, explicit public opposition, and arguing that race-neutral remedies should replace race-specific ones. On BlackVoteWatch, active opposition is scored as a critical-severity flag.

A documented concern about a member's record that lowers their Accountability Score but does not rise to the level of critical failure.

Examples include significant donor conflicts, a single problematic vote in an otherwise mixed record, or documented ties to political machines with poor accountability records. Warning flags reduce the accountability score — they do not override positive policy work.

Shown instead of a letter grade when a member has less than two years of federal voting record.

PEND does not mean the member is unknown — it means the record is too new to score fairly. Members with prior substantial elected records (county executive, state legislature, long House tenure before Senate) may still receive a published grade rather than PEND.

A bill introduced in every Congress since 1989 to create a federal commission to study reparations proposals for Black Americans.

Named after the broken Reconstruction-era promise of '40 acres and a mule.' H.R. 40 proposes a study commission — not direct payments. Co-sponsoring H.R. 40 is a documented signal of reparations support on BlackVoteWatch. Members who have served multiple terms without co-sponsoring are noted in their profile.

How important Black voters are to statewide Democratic electoral success in a given state.

A senator from Georgia — where Black voters delivered multiple Senate runoffs and helped deliver the 2020 presidential election — is held to a higher accountability standard than a senator from a state where Black voters are not electorally decisive. Raw population percentage alone does not capture this. Both the percentage and the electoral margin relationship are considered.

The accountability standard created by representing a district with a visible, organized Black community.

A member from a majority-Black district who delivers weak results is held to a higher standard than a member from a district with a small Black population. The standard rises with both the size of the Black constituency and the length of tenure — a 20-year representative from a majority-Black district has had time to build a record.

A government body that studies documented harms, gathers evidence, and evaluates possible remedies.

A reparations study commission is not the same as a direct payment program. H.R. 40 proposes a commission — opponents of even studying the issue are opposing a study, not a check. BlackVoteWatch treats opposition to H.R. 40 as documented opposition to the study process itself.

How many eligible voters actually cast ballots in an election, usually expressed as a percentage.

Turnout is one of the most direct measures of political power. High Black turnout in a competitive state creates accountability leverage — elected officials in those states depend on Black voters and can be held to a higher standard.

The difference in votes between the winner and the runner-up in an election.

A narrow margin means the winner could have lost with a small shift in turnout or persuasion. When Black voters represent a larger share of the winning margin than the margin itself, they have delivered the election — and that creates a specific accountability claim on the winner.

A congressional district where racial or ethnic minorities make up more than 50% of the population.

These districts were created — often through litigation — to increase minority representation in Congress. Representing a majority-minority district is a factor in district accountability scoring on BlackVoteWatch. A long-serving member from such a district is expected to have a substantive Black-relevant legislative record.