Sch'dy County Web site attracts voters
By Steven Cook
Gazette Reporter
November 4, 2000
SCHENECTADY - Away at college, Duanesburg resident Sarah Vincent still
wanted to participate in next week's election.
Along with a brother also away at college, she sought an absentee ballot application in September from the Schenectady County Board of Elections. By mid-October elections officials had received her brother Chris' application, but not that of Sarah, a senior at Cornell University.
Instead of losing more time having the ballot mailed, elections staffers directed the family to the board's new World Wide Web site. They downloaded applications from there.
"I started exploring [the site] and my reaction was `Wow, this is great,'" said her father, David Vincent. "It really facilitates interaction with the Board of Elections."
David Vincent was pleased enough that his daughter was able to obtain her absentee ballot, that he e-mailed a thank-you note to the elections board, advising the staff there "to keep up the good work."
Since the Web site's inception a month ago, Schenectady County elections officials say they have been surprised at the activity the site has attracted. More than 10,000 hits have been recorded, and elections officials say that posting election results should ensure activity.
Schenectady County isn't alone online, state officials say, as a growing number of counties are providing faster access to information through the Internet.
About 40 of New York's 62 county boards of elections have some form of Web presence, according to state Board of Elections spokesman Lee Daghlian.
Of those, about 15 - including Schenectady and Saratoga counties - are sophisticated enough to provide the absentee ballot applications or election results, Daghlian said.
"Two years ago, nobody did this," Daghlian said of the sites. "They're starting to move in the right direction."
The state Board of Elections site has been operating for more than three years, Daghlian said. In that time, state officials said, the site has been continuously updated and features have been added.
The state site now lists election law, includes financial disclosure requirements, and cites county boards' postal and Internet addresses.
Like the Schenectady County site, the state site sees considerable traffic, Daghlian said. In one six-hour period last week, the state site received more than 2,000 hits.
"It's so busy at times that people can't get in," he said. "We're continually updating our servers to accommodate the heavy traffic."
The state board's ultimate goal, Daghlian said, is to post election results on its site in real time. But it can't do that until each of the counties has capabilities similar to Schenectady and Saratoga counties.
Albany County's Board of Elections allows visitors to find absentee ballot information and district polling place locations. It also has an extensive calender of deadlines.
The sites for the Schoharie and Rensselaer county boards, however, are little more than online brochures containing basic information that hasn't been updated since 1998.
"We haven't had time" to update it, said Anne Hendrix, Schoharie County deputy elections commissioner. "It's a cumbersome thing."
Related stories
Posted November 19, 2000