GIS for Election Day Support

GIS technology is used throughout the election cycle.

A Year-Round Job: Elections, Geography, and GIS

Prior to an election, GIS can help county staff set up 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.

HAVA requires an up-to-date statewide voter registration system, a more accurate and usable balloting system, and an Internet-based voter education system. GIS provides a framework for fulfilling all these requirements:

• 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, and voting methods, as well as for analyzing election results from the data collected at polling places and precincts.

Case Studies

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

Managing elections for the most populous county in the United States is a complex and year-round job. Los Angeles County uses GIS not only for drawing precincts but also for managing census, street, and district data associated with election activities and for efficiently managing logistics for its workers.

Building a GIS-Based Election Support System County handles a broad range of election activities