Center for Civic Design

While you are checking your voter registration online as @danachis suggests, how about some tips for designing election websites? I give you #FieldGuideFriday, and Vol. 07, Designing election department websites. https://civicdesign.org/fieldguides/designing-election-department-websites/ …

1/ Help voters find your website. Include these words in your site’s metadata*: election vote ballot register absentee voter ID district contact the name of your county and largest towns

2/ Connect your website to other government sites. Voters start by looking for information locally. They often search for their town or county name plus “elections,” which leads them to a local site. But you don’t have to have all election information on your website.

3/ Answer the question: ‘What’s on the ballot?’ Show an example. Voters want to know what’s going on ahead of time, and they want to be sure of what they’re doing when they mark the ballot.

4/ Group navigation to answer voters’ questions. Rather than organizing the site around how the department or board is organized, anticipate — and answer — voters’ questions.

5/ Help visitors know what site they are on and what will be covered there. The purpose of the website is to answer questions rather than advertise the election department or board of elections.

6/ Write links that use words voters use and that help voters know where they will end up. Top 5 questions: - What is on the ballot? - How do I get an absentee ballot and when is it due? - Where do I vote? - Who is in office now? - How do I register to vote?