Customizing the Voting Information Tool Just Got Easier

Article Read time:
Projects: Election Initiatives
Customizing the Voting Information Tool Just Got Easier

By Amy Cohen and Jen Tolentino

In 2014, the Voting Information Project (VIP) released the customizable Voting Information Tool, which delivers up-to-date official voting information online or via mobile devices using just a residential address.  To make the tool even easier to customize, VIP has built a widget that walks users through the process of adding branded content. The widget makes customization simple, with easy steps such as:

  1. Select a theme and color scheme.
  2. Choose a state seal or upload an organization's logo.
  3. Add modifications, such as the alert "Don't forget to vote!"
  4. Use a language other than English. (The tool is available in 10 languages.)

The tool was developed to give state and local governments, media outlets, and third-party groups a way to provide official election information on their websites. During the 2014 general election, it was featured on over 1,500 websites nationwide, including on the official election sites for California, Iowa, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Virginia.

VIP, a project of The Pew Charitable Trusts, partners with state election officials and Google to ensure that voters can easily get answers to basic questions such as "Where is my polling place?" "What's on my ballot?" and "How do I navigate the voting process?" VIP will support more than 60 elections in 2015. The tool displays information for an upcoming election roughly two to four weeks in advance. If you have any questions about the tool, data availability, or VIP's other free apps and tools, please contact the VIP team at [email protected].

Follow us on Twitter using #electiondata and get the latest data dispatches, research, and news by subscribing today.

America’s Overdose Crisis
America’s Overdose Crisis

America’s Overdose Crisis

Sign up for our five-email course explaining the overdose crisis in America, the state of treatment access, and ways to improve care

Sign up
Quick View
America’s Overdose Crisis

America’s Overdose Crisis

Sign up for our five-email course explaining the overdose crisis in America, the state of treatment access, and ways to improve care

Sign up
RELATED
Tags
Election administration
Projects
Election Initiatives
Places
United States

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

A presentation being given by a businesswoman to a group of participants at a business conference.

Fact Sheet

April 12, 2024 Four Plan Features Can Boost 'Retirement Readiness'
An illustration of a couple holding hands walking away from an outline of houses behind them

Podcast

March 22, 2024 Pathways to Homeownership: Housing in America
A landscape with mountains and clouds. BLM Rule Puts Conservation, Other Land Uses on Equal Footing

MORE FROM PEW

A presentation being given by a businesswoman to a group of participants at a business conference. Four Plan Features Can Boost 'Retirement Readiness'
A large group of people in formal or traditional attire stands together on a stage, with a digital background depicting marine life and the large text “WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies.” WTO Needs to Redouble Its Effort on Fishing Subsidies
A man in a winter hat and sunglasses kneels on a rocky shoreline in front of a campfire, holding a metal mug with gloved hands. Behind him, in the water, a motorboat is moored to the shore. Cliffs rise on both sides of the water. Why Newfoundland’s South Coast Fjords Are Sacred
An illustration of a couple holding hands walking away from an outline of houses behind them Pathways to Homeownership: Housing in America
Composite image of modern city network communication concept

Learn the Basics of Broadband from Our Limited Series

Sign up for our four-week email course on Broadband Basics
Quick View

How does broadband internet reach our homes, phones, and tablets? What kind of infrastructure connects us all together? What are the major barriers to broadband access for American communities?

Pills illustration
Pills illustration

What Is Antibiotic Resistance—and How Can We Fight It?

Sign up for our four-week email series The Race Against Resistance.
Quick View
Pills illustration

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, also known as “superbugs,” are a major threat to modern medicine. But how does resistance work, and what can we do to slow the spread? Read personal stories, expert accounts, and more for the answers to those questions in our four-week email series: Slowing Superbugs.