With election day fast approaching, Centre County Commissioners got a run down of the updated county election website during an Oct. 19 board meeting.
The update comes with a new domain name for the website after the county was granted the use of a .gov domain name from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said Chad Joyce, Centre County’s chief information and records officer.
He said the change from centrecountyvotes.com to centrecountyvotes.gov was approved several weeks ago. He said .gov are “top level” domain names for U.S. government organizations and are managed by the CISA, a department of Homeland Security.
“Having that really adds a level of trust and credibility for the citizens. They know when they visit a website or receive an email from something that has a .gov domain that it is a credible and trusted source. So, it just adds that distinction to our Centre County Votes website,” said Joyce.
Along with the new domain name, the website will also have a “new look and feel” for users, said county director of elections and voter registration Beth Lechman.
Clickable tiles on the website directs users to important election information, such as sample ballots, where to vote and an election calendar. Lechman said the “Frequently Asked Questions” tab provides links with answers to many voter questions.
“After the election, you will see the results tab get updated and they will be moved to the top so then you will get the result information at the top of the page,” said Lechman.
Commissioner Steven Dershem asked if the site would provide a tally of votes on election night as the precincts come in.
“These tiles (election results) will be updated and placed at the top and then you will be able to find election results coming in on election night,” said Lechman.
During the meeting, commissioner Mark Higgins checked his phone and said that the site was user friendly.
“It is. WordPress was chosen last year, partly due to the fact that it is a mobile friendly site,” said Joyce.
Board chairman Michael Pipe said the site provides, “another trusted resource that elevates and enhances the ability for residents to know they are getting secure and trusted information. Thanks for all the hard work on this and we are looking for more ways we can enhance the security of our elections.”
This story appears in the Oct. 28-Nov. 3 edition of the Centre County Gazette.
