Uptick in Social Media Use Among Election Officials

Article November 4, 2014 Read time:

Projects: Election Initiatives

A new report from the Pew Research Center shows an increase in the percentage of registered voters who follow candidates and politics on social media, from 6 percent in 2010 to 16 percent in 2014. Many election officials across the country have joined the trend, tweeting election information and data to provide real-time updates to constituents:

Secretary of State Matt Schultz from Iowa tracked the number of absentee ballots returned before the election, providing graphics of the data.
Arkansas Secretary of State Mark Martin provided up-to-date early voting numbers each day since early voting started in the state on October 20.
Kate Brown, Oregon’s secretary of state, tracked the rate of returned mail ballots and highlighted the counties that had the highest voter turnout.
South Dakota’s Secretary of State Jason Gant provided information to encourage individuals to register to vote and provided daily voter-registration totals by county.
During the week before Election Day Kevin Kennedy, from Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board, provided daily count of the number of absentee and early ballots cast in the state.
Utah Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox reminded voters in five counties that they can register and vote on Election Day.
In addition to sharing election data, West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant has been recognizing voters who have voted in every general election for the last 50 years using the hashtag #WVvoterhalloffame.