Toolkit Will Help Elections in California and Beyond
By Kammi Foote
This election year, election officials will have a new collection of tech tools to help them engage their communities and improve how elections are run throughout the United States. The Election Toolkit, an online library of tech resources, includes tools like a Twitter guide, a free app to measure voter wait times, tools for publishing real-time election results and a collection of civic icons.
All of the tools in the Toolkit are either free or low cost and come paired with step-by-step instructions, making them accessible to any election official, regardless of their budget or technical ability.
Like other worthwhile projects, this one started off with a need. My partners at the Center for Technology and Civic Life (CTCL) recognized that local election offices are trusted civic information hubs that act as conduits between people and their government. Yet, they often lack the technology tools to build on existing relationships with voters, office holders and candidates to engage their communities in meaningful ways.