What is a voting cue?

A voting cue is something that helps someone know how they
should vote on a particular issue.  It is often used with regard to members of
legislatures, but can also refer to the voting behavior of members of the general
public.

In legislatures, members often rely on cues to tell
them how to vote so they do not have to truly become informed on issues.  This saves
them the time and effort that would be needed to educate themselves on an issue that may
not be of great interest to them or even to their constituents.  Such legislators will
often rely on cues like how important colleagues are voting, what trusted interest
groups' attitudes are, or what their party leadership wants them to do.  These are the
voting cues that allow them to decide how to
vote.

Similarly, individual voters may have cues.  They may
rely on other individuals whose opinions they trust.  They may rely on the candidate's
party affiliation.  They may rely on the endorsements of interest groups that they
trust, such as the NRA or the AARP. 

In short, then, a
voting cue is some piece of information that helps a person decide how to vote on an
issue or in an election without having to become fully informed on the issues or the
candidates.