Hays County’s Elections website was ranked best in the state in a recent study by the League of Women Voters (LWV).
“Engaging language on elections page invites visitors to vote, register to vote and be a poll worker,” judges said. “There are many items to discover, even a section for Navigating the Election Process for Students and First-Time Voters.”
The county’s Elections Administrator Jennifer Anderson said it is the third year in a row for the designation. “I’m glad to see that with the new design and everything,” she said. In the past year the website has been redesigned, new voter machines have been put to use and the county began allowing voters to visit any Voting Center to cast their ballots rather than report to the precinct in which they live.
“The 2020 election year is almost upon us,” said Grace Chimene, president of the LWV in Texas. “Texas voters will be inundated with campaign messaging. Voters will look to their counties to find accurate, accessible and useful voter information on safe and secure county election websites.”
Volunteers trained by the LWV evaluated the elections web pages of all 254 Texas counties in late October and early November.
Criteria included website security, the degree to which the page is mobile friendly, ease of use, detailed election information including contact information, dates and hours for early voting as well as Election Day, voter registration and mail ballot application, polling locations including detailed addresses and details on election judges, clerk training and precinct boundary training. They also looked at the ability of the public to observe election equipment, sample ballots, election results, candidate filing information and the ability to verify voter registration online.
“It is imperative that voters in the Lone Star State are able to count on trusted sources of election information as they prepare to make their voices heard in next year’s elections,” Texas Secretary of State Ruth R. Hughs said.
Anderson said she and her staff have worked hard on the web page and gave special recognition to Cliff Ormiston, her office’s IT coordinator.
“We’re constantly working to improve our website and we’re currently working on ways to do more focused education of the election code and voting.” That is through a video series they are developing, Anderson said.
