With a presidential election a year away, Vermont officials are working to make casting a ballot easier for voters. Starting Oct. 12, the Office of the Secretary of State will roll out a new online elections management system that will let Vermont residents register to vote electronically, request absentee ballots and track their personal voting information. Secretary of State Jim Condos called the nearly two-year process of overhauling the state’s systems a response to his agency’s “antiquated” way of doing business. “We think that this will help us increase participation not only from our local residents, but also from our military and overseas voters,” Condos told StateScoop. “It improves the accuracy, it certainly has a reduction in budgetary requirements and increases the speed in which [registrations] are done.”
Condos has spearheaded an effort to modernize the agency’s systems since he took office in 2011. Since last year, Condos’ team has unveiled an online campaign finance disclosure system and an online registration tool for lobbyists. Now, after the better part of a year readying the elections system for release, Condos sees the site as a logical next step for Vermont.
Condos is particularly excited about the section of the site known as “My Voter Page.” Similar to systems in Georgia and Montana, the tool will let registered voters get a look at the location of their polling place, sample ballots for upcoming elections and the status of any absentee ballots they’ve mailed in.
Full Article: Vermont readies new online elections management tool – StateScoop.