{"id":697062,"date":"2024-08-30T17:49:10","date_gmt":"2024-08-31T00:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=arcuser&p=697062"},"modified":"2024-08-30T17:49:10","modified_gmt":"2024-08-31T00:49:10","slug":"the-future-of-voting-is-accurate-and-transparent-in-saint-louis-county","status":"publish","type":"arcuser","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcuser\/the-future-of-voting-is-accurate-and-transparent-in-saint-louis-county","title":{"rendered":"The Future of Voting Is Accurate and Transparent in Saint Louis County"},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[24962,10652],"tags":[23452,9412],"arcuser_issues":[490002],"class_list":["post-697062","arcuser","type-arcuser","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-focus","category-survey123-for-arcgis","tag-elections","tag-transparency","arcuser_issues-au-summer-2024"],"acf":{"short_description":"The Board of Elections for Saint Louis County, Missouri, uses GIS technology to monitor operations before, during, and after elections.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":697072,"file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"blockquote","content":"The Board of Elections for Saint Louis County, Missouri, uses GIS technology to monitor operations before, during, and after elections. A suite of web maps and mobile apps help streamline election processes and communicate results efficiently. Using location-based tools, the county makes voting accessible, ensures accurate districting, and provides election data to officials and constituents."},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"After polling centers close on Election Day in Saint Louis County, each supervising staff member for each site places an iPhone in the ballot box, secures it, and travels by police escort to the county\u2019s Board of Elections office.\r\n\r\nThe iPhone uses GIS technology to deliver real-time location data that is displayed on a map. Eric Fey, the county\u2019s Democratic director of elections, monitors the progression of each box as he waits with his colleagues to receive the night\u2019s final votes and announce election results.\r\n\r\nBefore using location data, Fey knew that the ballot boxes were on their way but couldn\u2019t pinpoint their precise location. Meanwhile, he would field phone calls from candidates, county personnel, and journalists who wanted updates on results.\r\n\r\nNow, Fey and his team have a dashboard that takes away the uncertainty. \u201cAs ballot boxes come back, we know when we scanned them back into the office and when we broke the seal to take the results back to our tabulation room. We can zoom in on specific collection points to see which ones are accounted for and how many are outstanding. We know every part of the process and can visualize it,\u201d he said.\r\n\r\nThe iPhones that track ballot boxes work in concert with other GIS-powered tools. Together, they provide a complete operational picture throughout the election cycle. A suite of web maps and mobile apps keep officials, candidates, and constituents updated throughout. Then the cycle repeats.\r\n\r\n "},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":697132,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Moving from Paper to Smart Maps<\/h3>\r\nFey is often asked what he does when there isn\u2019t an election. His answer is surprising: there is always an election. In the coming 18 months, Saint Louis County will host six elections, not including any special elections required by individual city charters.\r\n\r\nThe most populous county in Missouri, Saint Louis County is home to nearly one million people with more than 700,000 registered voters. What makes the region unique is its jurisdictional complexity. On top of the county\u2019s two congressional districts, there are seven county council districts, seven state senate districts, and 30 state representative districts. The county\u2019s 87 cities and villages each have their own elected officials. Voters also elect officials for 24 school districts, 25 fire districts, and a plethora of other special-purpose districts.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe end up with this crazy spaghetti web of local governments and precincts, and it\u2019s our job to make sure people get the correct ballot,\u201d Fey said. \u201cThis is a big challenge in election administration. Everyone knows who they want to vote for, for president or governor. But in larger jurisdictions, when you get down to state representative and county commissioner, if someone gets the wrong ballot, they might not even know it.\u201d\r\n\r\nWhen Fey started working for the county in 2015, Board of Elections personnel were using colored pencils to redraw district lines on paper maps based on new census data. If these boundaries are redrawn incorrectly or aren\u2019t accurately translated into a voter database, errors occur and elections must be rerun, which is costly for municipalities and their constituents.\r\n\r\n "},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":697152,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"To solve this, the Board of Elections\u2019 GIS specialists work with judges and redistricting bodies to create digital maps of voting districts. Now, the maps are available on the Redistricting Hub (links.esri.com\/stlouisredistrict<\/a>) on the Board of Elections\u2019 website.\r\n\r\n "},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":697162,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"This resource aggregates all county districts, outlines their boundaries, and shows any recent changes. Most redistricting processes happen every 10 years, but if boundaries need to be redrawn, the maps must reflect changes immediately. With the Redistricting Hub, these changes can easily be made and communicated to constituents and stakeholders, including politicians whose district locations and makeup may have shifted.\r\n

Optimizing Election Preparation<\/h3>\r\nRecently, new laws in Missouri made it easier for people to vote. Voters can now visit any polling center\u2014instead of an assigned location\u2014or vote as absentees. The Polling Place Lookup tool (links.esri.com\/pollingplacelook<\/a>) helps voters find their nearest polling center. For those choosing to vote as absentees, the Absentee Voting Lookup tool (links.esri.com\/absentee) highlights satellite sites and calculates drive times to locations where voters can drop off their ballots. Voters can also use the Saint Louis County Sample Ballot Lookup tool (links.esri.com\/sampleballot<\/a>) to explore the candidates and initiatives specific to where they live.\r\n\r\n "},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":697172,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Location technology helps the Board of Elections prepare for these changes. Fey\u2019s team used information from previous elections to determine where to place new sites for early voting.\r\n\r\n\u201cData from the November 2022 election showed us where people were voting. We could also see that there were some dead zones where we didn\u2019t have a polling center. Because there wasn\u2019t one, those people just didn\u2019t vote early; they waited until Election Day\u2014that was a big learning moment for us,\u201d he said.\r\n\r\nThe Board of Elections is also responsible for distributing voting equipment to nearly 300 polling centers across the county. Prior to implementing GIS technology, warehouse employees would sit down with paper maps and draw out delivery routes. Now, workers optimize delivery routes by considering traffic conditions and the shortest distance to minimize travel time.\r\n\r\nThe absentee ballots team coordinates voting for residents of nursing and retirement homes, which includes delivering ballots to nearly 100 facilities. \u201cThe team [had previously]<\/em> relied on employees with years of knowledge about the process and it was always confusing,\u201d Fey said. \u201cA few years ago, they went to the GIS analysts and asked for help\u2014that\u2019s when I realized our thinking had really changed. Now we have a dashboard to track and manage the nursing home visits we make. It\u2019s made the job so much easier.\u201d\r\n\r\n "},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":697182,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Setting Expectations<\/h3>\r\nOn Election Day, GIS apps keep county officials and constituents informed in real time. Throughout the day, voters can use the Polling Place Lookup tool to monitor wait times at each location. A volunteer counts the voters in line and logs the number in ArcGIS Survey123, which then populates on the web map.\r\n\r\n\u201cOn Election Day in 2020, we had 365,000 hits to the line tracker app on our website. That\u2019s about as many people who voted on Election Day in Saint Louis County, so it was very popular,\u201d Fey said.\r\n\r\nThe poll books that voters use to sign in are connected to Fey\u2019s office and automatically populate a map that shows where and when people are voting. Fey and his team monitor polling place wait times to anticipate problems. If a device malfunctions or another error occurs, Fey can locate the mobile team member closest to the issue and dispatch them to troubleshoot.\r\n\r\n\u201cSituations can develop rapidly on Election Day and GIS gives us the ability to visualize what is happening,\u201d said Rick Stream, Republican director of elections and Fey\u2019s counterpart. \u201cWith these tools in place, election days seem somewhat less fraught than they used to be when we could only guess at what was happening in the field.\u201d\r\nLooking Forward: Anticipating and Innovating\r\n\r\nAs election results come in, they\u2019re displayed on maps on the Board of Elections' website. Using data, maps, and mobile tools throughout the election cycle grants a high level of transparency and authenticity to the county\u2019s processes. When Fey needs to answer a question, he has authoritative data to point to.\r\n\r\nThis information matters when addressing allegations of foreign disinformation campaigns, voter fraud, or voting machine security. \u201cNew folks are coming into election administration with IT competencies. They want to emphasize outward-facing transparency and make processes more accessible to the public\u2014GIS is a great tool for that,\u201d Fey said.\r\n\r\nAfter each election, staff members aggregate and analyze all the collected data and Fey looks for potential process improvements. If he notices more mobile workers were dispatched to certain areas, he takes note. If a certain polling place is popular, he can allocate additional resources to that location for the next election.\r\n\r\nFey\u2019s office compiles a biennial report filled with maps after every general election. Every elected official receives a physical copy. The reports help officials visualize the regions where they did or didn\u2019t receive support. The maps speak to the large amount of data the Board of Elections collects and synthesizes.\r\n\r\nIn the future, Fey and his team want to take historic election data and display it on interactive maps for constituents, researchers, and journalists to explore. He\u2019s also hoping to enhance real-time data collection on Election Day to include interactive maps with live results, down to the precinct level.\r\n\r\nThey are ahead of the curve. According to the National States Geographic Information Council, the majority of states are in the early stages of integrating GIS into their election processes. Fey noted that, by focusing on hiring GIS personnel and investing in the tools they need, the Board of Elections created a culture where people use location data to solve problems and innovate. \u201cIt\u2019s these little improvements,\u201d Fey said. \u201cEvery little piece builds on something else.\u201d\r\n\r\nLearn more about how GIS is used to modernize elections planning at links.esri.com\/GIS4elections<\/a>."}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"\nMissouri County streamlines election operations with GIS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Board of Elections for Saint Louis County, Missouri, uses GIS technology to monitor operations before, during, and after elections. A suite of web maps and mobile apps help streamline election processes and communicate results efficiently. 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