How LEOs Educate Voters About Voting Requirements and Election Reforms

In this chapter, we offer an overview of how voter education policy is designed across the states, highlighting how local election officials (LEOs) view their role as a trusted source of election information for voters across the United States. We conceptualize voter education as efforts that provide voters with the information about how to vote, as well as efforts that aim to inform the public about the broader electoral process—how elections are actually run and protected. Both components of voter education are related to the broader goals of lowering information barriers to voting and bolstering greater confidence in the process of election administration. We first present a “voter education toolbox” and use it to identify gaps in voter access to information about the election process. We then focus on LEO voter education on social media as an accessible and dynamic tool to reach new and existing voters. We argue variation in the accessibility of information from election officials impacts the election information ecosystem and increases the costs for voters who reside in jurisdictions where their LEO is not engaging in robust voter education efforts. We conclude by sharing LEOs’ views on which changes they want to see in elections moving forward, illustrating the value of voter education from the perspective of the public servants who make elections work.