{"id":8757,"date":"2016-11-07T12:59:06","date_gmt":"2016-11-07T20:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/?p=8757"},"modified":"2016-11-07T12:59:06","modified_gmt":"2016-11-07T20:59:06","slug":"one-last-look-at-the-2016-election","status":"publish","type":"insider","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/one-last-look-at-the-2016-election","title":{"rendered":"One Last Look at the 2016 Election"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Christian Carlson
\nThe presidential election is happening tomorrow and government workers are preparing for what is expected to be one of the biggest voter turnouts in history. To support large numbers of voters and increased scrutiny of voting operations, governments are turning to technology more than ever before. Advances in mobile, web, cloud infrastructure and mobility have combined to deliver new capabilities, new deployment patterns and, indirectly, the increased expectations today\u2019s citizens have for government resources. When it comes to this year\u2019s election, increased reliance on technology is evident in both social media outreach and applications designed to provide election-day voter support.
\nLocation for Election Support and Transparency<\/strong>
\nThe use of location as a fundamental element of elections support and transparency has been top of mind for me since the 2016 election season kicked into high gear \u2013 which now seems like forever ago. Fortunately, there is good news for governments taking advantage of GIS as they hustle to prepare for November 8.
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\nThe ArcGIS platform ships with baseline functionality that provides initial operating capabilities (IOCs) for GIS across government departments. These IOCs are exposed as collections of domain specific apps that provide government users with the functionality and workflows they need to support their work. Governments of all sizes and jurisdictions are embracing this approach to quickly and sustainably deploy the solutions their constituents expect.
\nDuring this election, I\u2019ve witnessed a flurry of government GIS activity preparing for voter support and election-day operations. For example, GIS apps supporting everything from early voter registration in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina <\/a> to comprehensive elections support in Wadena County, MN<\/a> have been launched.
\nElection Operations Support is Core <\/strong>
\nIt is amazing to think of the difference in GIS support for the 2016 Presidential race compared to what we saw just four years ago. This trend will continue because the apps being provided are an example of standard, predictable GIS solutions that are common to all state and local governments. These solutions are now considered part and parcel of the core GIS systems that are designed and implemented for proactive and immediate use. Having a GIS means you have a solution for supporting your regular elections operations; it\u2019s standard.
\nArcGIS ships with a collection of configurable election apps that support both citizens and government officials. The public facing apps allow voters to:<\/p>\n