Election office websites are where voters get pointed for official information. Ask a question about a ballot, a deadline, or a polling place, and the official answer usually lives on the election office’s website. What voters find when they get there varies widely, and whether they can use it at all is a separate question.
New research auditing thousands of local election websites found that most carry only a fraction of the basic information voters look for. A meaningful share offers almost nothing at all, and rural jurisdictions consistently trail their metro neighbors. And the content is only half the picture. A site can carry every item on the list and still be unusable for a voter who navigates by keyboard or relies on a screen reader.
Join us Thursday, August 27 at 1 p.m. ET for a practical conversation about what election websites offer voters, who can actually use them, and the compliance deadline ahead.
This Books & Ballots conversation looks at election websites from both sides. What information is there, and is it reachable? We will walk through what the research has found, which problems have proven stubborn, and how an office can run basic tests without a consultant or a large budget. We will also talk through the federal accessibility rules coming into effect and the deadlines attached to them.
Books & Ballots is a webinar series – and now found on Substack and as a podcast on Spotify – hosted in partnership with Ready for Tuesday, the Center for Election Innovation & Research (CEIR), and MIT Election Data + Science Lab (MEDSL).