Again, every once in a while I run across neat little ideas that election officials develop and implement, and I found one this morning. Warren Slocum, from San Mateo County in California, has put a neat little flash presentation on his website of the election administration cycle — all of the little things that have to go on for an election to happen. Here is a link to the page and the demo. This is a helpful device to help show folks the complexity of election administration, and now whenever I am asked questions about the election administration cycle, I’ll just send them the link to San Mateo County.

This opens the door for a lot of other interesting ideas, as to how election officials (or those interested in voter education) should think about new, and more interactive, ways to allow voters to learn more about their election process. Another example are the flash demos that were developed for the Buenos Aires e-voting pilot project, which are available at the site we have put together including documentation on the project. This of course brings me back to the general issue of voter education, and it is clear that there are lots of new and interactive ways to give voters the information they need for effective political participation.