Voting’s Viral: Voters, Election Officials & Social
How do you get reliable information about elections? Many voters get their information about who is running for election and what the issues are from friends and family. Increasingly, those friends and family are online, getting their information from social media sources and passing it on. What’s the conversation between voters and election officials? What’s the potential for increasing civic engagement through social media? This panel will discuss breakthroughs and cautions, experiences and pointers. What you learn about who is using what and why will surprise you.
Presenters
Dana, a keen researcher with a natural curiosity for discovering the solutions to wicked problems, suddenly found herself sucked into the whirlwind world of ballot design following the 2000 US presidential election. She's now a recognized expert and key cheerleader behind ballot simplification efforts worldwide.
Dean Logan is the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk for Los Angeles County, California -- the nation’s largest and most diverse and complex local election jurisdiction with 4.3 million registered voters and over 500 political districts. The Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk also records real property documents; maintains vital records of births, deaths and marriages; issues marriage licenses; performs civil marriage ceremonies; and processes business filings and other documents; serving an estimated 3,500 customers daily.
Jared Marcotte is the lead software engineer for the Voting Information Project which enables states to more easily disseminate election-based information to the development community thereby allowing improved engagement by the electorate. Before working at the New Organizing Institute, he developed enterprise-grade sites for Six Apart and worked at IBM creating software to assist in their manufacturing processes. In his spare time, he rants about politics, technology, education and banal minutia on Twitter.
Jeannie Layson is the former director of communications and congressional affairs at the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Her goal was to make sure voters would have reliable information in 2012 about the basics -- how, where, and when to vote. She led social media and government 2.0 initiatives about how election officials can establish themselves as THE credible and timely source of information about elections on social media outlets. She built online exchanges and hosted webcasts that featured social media strategies by election officials. Currently, she is the director of Governmental, International and Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Meterials Safety Administration.
Monday, March 12
