Election Websites: Oklahoma

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Researchers assessed state election websites for the Pew Center on the States between May-November 2010, using detailed criteria evaluating the content, lookup tools, and usability. Websites may have changed since they were assessed. See methodology (PDF).

Strengths include:

• Complete resources for people with disabilities, including information on getting assistance from poll workers and instructions for using specialized voting equipment.
• A simple and clearly designed website.
• Voter content written at the eighth-grade level, making important information understandable to low-literacy users.

Recommended improvements include:

• Provide information for military voters about how to register to vote (42 states offer), how to obtain and complete the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot if a regular ballot is not received in time to vote (30 offer), and when to renew requests for an absentee ballot (31 offer).
• Offer lookup tools for voters to view the status of their registration (41 states offer), absentee ballot (29 offer), sample ballot (22 offer), or provisional ballot (19 offer).
• List links to campaign finance data for state candidates (48 states offer).
• Provide a description of the state's voting system (47 states offer).
• Link to campaign finance data for congressional candidates (37 states offer).
• Offer candidate information such as phone numbers (23 states offer), e-mail addresses (19 offer), website (20 offer), candidate statements (6 offer), and occupations (6 offer).
• Provide full texts of statewide ballot measures (34 states offer).
• Allow access to the lookup tool for polling places by street address, instead of personal voter record information (27 states offer).
• Eliminate redundant links within the website, such as FAQs and Quicklinks.
• Include all the site's Web pages in the navigation.

Noteworthy Feature: For people with disabilities, Oklahoma's site features a page with information about receiving assistance at the polls, links to a video demonstration of the state's phone-in voting system, and a description of the Election Board's TDD system.

Initial Quick Fix: Add instructions or a tutorial about how to complete a ballot (38 states offer).

Summary: Oklahoma's site has a low score because of large gaps in its content and a poor performance in the lookup tools category. It offers just one out of five recommended lookup tools.

www.ok.gov/elections was assessed for content, lookup tools, and usability.