Behind the Screens: E-Government in American State Election Administration

Abstract

This article considers election administration e-government in the United States. It asks: How robust is American states' usage of Internet-based platforms for electoral information dissemination and communication with voters? It conducts a content analysis of state election websites according to the activities common to all electoral management bodies, presents a summary of the use of social media by state election officials, collects data on the means of communication available to voters, and conducts a small-scale test of e-mail responsiveness. It concludes that the United States performs well in terms of providing information about registration and election results. The greatest area for improvement is providing information necessary for full transparency. Scholars and practitioners will benefit from using the framework developed in this article to measure and compare changes in election e-government over time, and to consider the United States within a broader international context.