Combating Mis- and Disinformation in Elections

About the Program

Category: Civic Education and Public Information (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

Over the last two years, and most specifically in 2020, our office spent significant time combating election mis- and disinformation. This was done in a very strategic manner, centered around public education presentations, the creation and publication of our Election Security Community Briefing, a countywide mailing, and the establishment of our Mis/Dis-information Reporting System. Our goal with this broad-based approach was to help educate our residents with Colorado and Boulder County specific election facts, to help us combat the onslaught of mis- and disinformation that was being perpetuated in the national narrative. While it is challenging to say what our local elections climate may have been like had we not undertaken these communication endeavors, our office believes that the education effort was effective in blunting some of the mis- and disinformation. We have both antidotal and engagement data that back up our assumptions presented later in this application.