Supporting Election Day

GIS technology is used throughout the election cycle. Prior to an election, GIS can help county staff to setup and staff polling locations, manage polling location information networks, and identify and notify voters of their nearest polling location.

The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) set aside federal funding to support state initiatives for improving and upgrading how elections are managed and carried out. Many state and local governments are looking to a geographic information system (GIS) to help them achieve three primary goals:

• Create or update a statewide voter registration file
• Develop a more accurate and voter-friendly balloting system (i.e., new voting machines)
• Make voting and information more accessible to registered voters

During the election, GIS can be used to track voter turnout, voting methods, as well as analyzing election results from the data collected at polling places and precincts.

Case Study

With a little more than a month to prepare, Miami-Dade County's elections staffing team used GIS technology to assign and track thousands of employees and polling volunteers for 500 polling places.

In the Spotlight and Behind the Scenes of the November 5th Election