Background
Data Standards
Key Tasks (Procedures)
- Updating Localities' Information
- Local Officials' Roster Checks (Keep the State Governance Report handy!)
- Corrections of Local Officials (Read aboutPreventing Duplicates first)
Finding County Websites:
There will sometimes be helpful websites listed in the State Governance Report, but if there is not you may use Google to search for the official city/county website. When you find a website, make sure it is up to date by looking for last update information, event calendars, council meeting minutes, etc.
Things to Remember:
- Accuracy is more important than speed!
- Match the locality's website! Use our style guidelines, but match the site.
- Do not abbreviate anything!
- Double check for typos, entering mistakes, reversed numbers, etc.
Managing City/County Includes, but is not limited to
- Every 5 years, update cities covered based on revised population estimates. Discuss with the National Director if the population threshold should be changed.
- Update the URLs of localities on a yearly basis
- Make sure each localities' roster and officials' information is updated at least once a year, and in accordance with that localities' elections. Updates should focus on those city/counties which Just had an election or will have an election in 1 year - do not update city/counties that will have elections in the near future. This would be a waste of time, since the officials will likely be changing sooner than we can update those lists.
- Add localities, offices, and districts as needed
- Track vacancies and monitor for roster changes
- Maintain and monitor tracking sheets (Top 100 City/County, Project 250, etc.)
- Report on progress to your supervisor on a weekly basis
Two of the biggest projects Elections Monitoring works on is updating the top 100 cities and counties and “Project 250.” The first is ensuring that we have the correct information for the mayor/executive, city council/legislative, and links for the top 100 cities and counties in the country, per the most recent census. You can find this on the left-hand side under “Local Offices.” Select the state and city/town and then you’ll see the mayor and city councilmembers. Make sure the list in Admin is correct and, if it isn't, make the necessary changes. Project 250 is basically the Top 100 sheet, but for the top 5 cities and counties in every state.
