Midyear Meeting Takeaways for the Geo-Enabled Elections ProjectBy Jamie Chesser | March 19, 2018 NSGIC's Midyear Meeting - held last month in Salt Lake City - was an extremely productive time for the Geo-Enabled Elections project. Our steering group met in person for the first time, we held a four-hour workshop for conference participants, including state and federal government representatives, sponsors and other partners, and we ended the week with a well-attended plenary session. Workshop OutcomesSteering Group Workshop The 13 members of the steering group met for a pre-conference workshop and identified a short list of best-practice areas to position a state for geo-enabling their elections system. These initial items are:
General Workshop Conference participants were invited to arrive early to attend a pre-conference workshop. The four-hour session included exercises in exploring the current state of GIS within elections systems and case studies through a panel discussion and demonstrations. We looked at what it means to be ready to implement geo-enabled elections and how to implement them with greatest success. The steering group will take back the questions and issues raised during the general workshop to help inform the project's overall approach and next steps. Plenary Session Held on the conference's final day, the plenary session provided an introduction to the state of GIS in elections systems and the Geo-Enabled Elections project. The presentation was updated based on the work of the two pre-conference workshops, allowing the project team to tease out issues identified as priority areas earlier in the week. We invited this larger group of participants to become more engaged with the project - see below for more information. Current Status and ActivitiesArmed with significant new information and momentum, in the next few months, the steering group will undertake major work to advance the project, including:
Get InvolvedPlease stay in touch! Questions or thoughts regarding this project should be directed to NSGIC's geospatial program manager, Jamie Chesser ([email protected]). Discussion forums E-lists NOTE: *If you are not a NSGIC member, you can register for a Limited Access Account. This is required to join the e-list and participate in discussion forums. Steering GroupThe Geo-Enabled Elections steering group is instrumental to the success of the project. To give an expanded perspective, members of the group include representatives from states with varying degrees of GIS integrated in elections systems.
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