In a perfect democracy, at least 50% of people would support every decision.

The U.S. falls short of this goal.

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Spoken For.
Senate vote: Cloture motion // January 26, 2015Needed 60 votes to end debate

Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Murkowski Amdt. No. 2

Who won, and how much of the country was behind them

Won the vote · Nay

39 votes, representing 119,838,401 people48.5%of U.S. adults

Lost the vote · Yea

53 votes, representing 101,620,680 people41.1%of U.S. adults

The dotted gap is 10.4% of U.S. adults whose member did not vote, voted “present,” or whose seat was vacant.

Share of U.S. adults represented, the Senate. The winning side fell 1.5 points short of a majority of the country.
SideOutcomeVotesShare of U.S. adults
NayWon3948.5%
YeaLost5341.1%
Not represented on this questionNo position taken010.4%

Senate This vote needed 60 yes votes to pass, more than the usual majority. It's called cloture, and it means a side with a majority of votes can still lose.