Electioneering : Questions Every Voter Needs Answered

Deciding on what questions every voter needs answered on their state’s Board of Elections website:

Before I begin to analyze each of the state’s websites, I really need to focus on what information needs to be at their fingertips. Not all of the information available on each state’s website will be relevant to this exercise. I looked to the Help America Vote Act of 2002 for direction on what questions need answering, as well.

HAVA 2002:

To establish a program to provide funds to States to replace punch card voting systems, to establish the Election Assistance Commission to assist in the administration of Federal elections and to otherwise provide assistance with the administration of certain Federal election laws and programs, to establish minimum election administration standards for States and units of local government with responsibility for the administration of Federal elections, and for other purposes.

Question Brainstorming:

• How do I vote?
• Where do I vote?
• Am I eligible to vote?
• Do I need to do anything before I can vote? (register, etc.)
• When do I vote?
• Who are the candidates?
• What do I do when I get to the Polling Site?
• What are the rules of the Polling Site?
• How do I use the voting machine?
• I am disabled, are accessible voting booths available?
• Is the voting system secure?
• How do I become a Poll Worker?

Other Questions:

• Should the analysis also have a section on the level of technology used?  For instance, New Hampshire offers videos on “How to Vote” (see rest of post below) vs. Oklahoma that requires its users to download pdf’s for nearly all of its resources.
• Should the analysis offer a vote for “Best in Show” sites so that those contributing to the project can say whether one state sets an example (perhaps through visual design, navigation, resources)?  This would not be a full on analysis of each state’s detailed graphics or navigation, but could be a useful tool to narrow down what states are easy to view which can play an important roll in user interaction.

Multimedia:

Should there be a box noting which websites utilize other forms of media to explain the process? Here is New Hampshire’s How to Vote video:

This is a video on how to use Connecticut’s new Optical Scanning method. Funny, though… I wasn’t sure it was officially sponsored by the Secretary of the State until the final bit. It would seem that making sure a video posted on YouTube (by the CTSOTS) would make sure to get across that this is an official video would be a priority. Oh well.