Lessons fromSurvey of Elections May 2010

Helen Williams

Better connected

reviewer

Website Take-up Service June 9

Overview of Survey of Elections

Four main elements to the research:-• Analysis of traffic to council websites:

Website Take-up Service (WTS)• Survey of WTS sites holding elections – in

four rounds• Local perspective on General Election –

finding your constituency and other basics• Open Election Data Project

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Traffic to council websites

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Round 1: Registration deadline

• 34 councils (81%) had a prominent link to election information on the home page, but a few notable exceptions had either only a small link or no reference at all.

• Missed opportunities to publicise registration deadline on home page

• Poor linking of news items to related information• Out of date information• What happened to Stoke-on-Trent?

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Round 2: Candidates and encouragement to vote

• Candidate information in statutory notices in PDF

• Candidates listed by ward, but no link to ward look-up facility

• Only 14/42 allowed you to look up polling station

• 83% had reasonably prominent election link on home page

• Two standalone election sites score well: Newham and Camden

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Round 3: Results day

• Communication of results was patchy• Most sites using simple tables, few

election graphics this time• Presentation sometimes lacked clarity• Under half of councils provided full data

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Social media: Twitter and Facebook

• Initially most councils missed opportunity to use Twitter / Facebook to highlight elections

• Solihull, Coventry and Preston – good• Results day – councils ‘upped their game’ -

17 provided results service via Twitter• Updates on Twitter more frequent and

timely than on the website

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Local perspective: finding constituency, ward, candidates

• Relatively easy to find information on national news media sites

• Very difficult on official sources such as Directgov, The Electoral Commission, and local government websites

• About My Vote ‘Where can I get info about candidates?’ The answer says:

• There is no official source, so you should visit candidate websites, party websites, or write to the party.

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Open Election Data Project

http://openelectiondata.org/

• Chris Taggart of OpenlyLocal.com and supported by Socitm and LGA.

• Aims to encourage councils to publish election results as ‘linked open data’

• Would enable national public database of local election results

• Demonstrate commitment to transparency and openness

• 22 councils published their results as open data

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Lessons from analysis

• Ensure that all election deadlines are communicated well in advance, and feature prominently on the home page at the right times

• Ensure that all the relevant information is clearly signposted – and updated at each stage

• Ensure that candidate details are clear and easily accessible – not just a statutory notice in ‘pdf’

• Provide all relevant results data clearly: including turnout figures and spoilt ballot papers – Open Election Data Project

• Post regular reminders as deadlines approach on your social media channels, linking directly to relevant forms and information on the website

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Lessons fromSurvey of Elections May 2010

Helen Williams

Better connected reviewer

Thank you for your time