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The research below from the Pew Center on the States measured every election website in the country as to services provided and the ability of people to locate the site. If one wonders how government websites are progressing, this research is a barometer.

The data provides a comprehensive look at every variable measured; it should scare the dickens out of many government webmasters. If we cannot provide something as basic as information on registering and voting (the most fundamental service of government) than we should be ashamed of ourselves. Government websites have improved considerably during the last five years but we still have a long way to go.

Some state did a stellar job and many did not. Look at the report on a state-by-state basis and see how yours did.

Pew Report:

Pew measured the usability and effectiveness of state election websites based on benchmarks that range from quickly finding the site itself to how easily users can locate important voting information. Based on these criteria, each site was assigned a usability score using a scale from 1 to 100.

The average usability score for election websites in the 50 states and the District of Columbia is 58 percent—ranging from a high of 77 percent (Iowa) to a low of 33 percent (New Hampshire);

When using popular search engines such as Google, only 38 states appear as the first search term when searching for “voting in [STATE NAME]”; and only 34 official state websites appear as the first search result when users enter in their state name with “polling place”;

Thirty-four states have a poll locator tool, but only 11 states will identify a polling location for any address in the state—helping voters to easily find the basic information they will need to vote;

Half the states including the District of Columbia (53 percent) offer a way for users to verify their registration online;

By not improving their sites, states are missing an opportunity to save money on voter telephone help lines—up to $100 per call.

Best, Len.

Source: http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/VIP_FINAL_101408_WEB.pdf

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