My Elections Gateway – A Program to Provide Customized Election Information

About the Program

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

Year: 2016

The San Bernardino County Elections Office challenged itself to find a better way to distribute customized election information to improve service delivery for all voters throughout the County. While the election website provided ample information and served the public well, it required the user to search for their desired content. With the goal to build a program to deliver customized information, the office identified three user types who would benefit from customized election information: 1) voters, 2) poll workers, and 3) candidates. After considering several design options, the Elections Office decided to develop a mobile-responsive application, accessible from the existing website, which allows for maximum ease of use from a wide range of mobile devices and personal computers. Program development included comprehensive business requirements and the usage of Web Application Programming Interfaces for data flexibility. Additionally, special attention was given to the program name and logo, knowing that a memorable name and logo would aid marketing efforts to ensure a successful release. Since the release of My Elections Gateway in October of 2014, the Elections Office has received positive feedback and praise for making voter registration and elections more understandable and accessible.