Des Moines Register
10-29-06
Nov. 7 winners will emerge online
Half of county auditors post election results on Web
By MEGHAN V. MALLOY
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
More Iowans than ever before will be able to obtain vote tallies on the Internet
almost instantaneously after the polls close Nov. 7.
No statewide agency tracks the number of Iowa auditors who post election
results online, but calls to 99 auditors by the Des Moines Sunday Register found
that about 50 percent of the state's counties will be using a Web site to post Nov.
7 election results. The results will be unofficial until canvassing.
More than 10 years have passed since former Polk County Auditor Tom Parkins
told the Board of Supervisors at a January 1996 meeting that he hoped to have a
Web site up and running within 18 months.
The number of Iowa counties with Web sites has grown gradually in the past few
years, the Register's survey found. Seventy of Iowa's county auditors have
launched Web sites, although not all are capable of posting election results.
Sac County, a western Iowa county with just fewer than 12,000 people, will be
posting results online for the first time this November.
"We decided that this would be a way to get the results out there as quickly and
accurately as possible," said Auditor Jim Dowling. "I think this will generate a lot
of hits. We'll have to see how it goes."
An advocate for public access to information applauded the growth in Web sites.
County auditor sites are "a good idea," said Dianne Bystrom, director of the
Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State
University. "My rule of thumb is, the more information, the better.''
Because the news media tend to focus on high-profile races, county sites "allow
voters to track lower-level races," Bystrom said.
In the state's counties with larger populations, such as Polk, Scott and Linn,
using the Internet to relay political outcomes is almost a necessity and more of a
convenience for residents, said Polk County Auditor Michael Mauro.
Mauro said being able to constantly update live results as precincts report in after
polls close is "incredible."
"We have an incredible amount of people who see the site during election time,"
Mauro said. "In fact, sometimes we have to shut down some departments online
to handle all the hits we get."
Mauro's office said there are more than 450,000 registered voters in Polk County,
with slightly more than half voting in every election.
Polk County, among the first in Iowa to launch a Web site, has relayed live
election results since at least 2000. In the 2004 presidential election, Mauro said,
the auditor's site received around 10,000 hits during election week.
"And we expect the number will keep rising," he said.
The site serves people all over Polk County - as well as others.
Mauro said those who want their results immediately should keep in mind,
however, that the information will be unofficial until the next day.
"Still, it's a great way to get information to the media and people in Polk County,"
he said. "It's just a good way to communicate the election."
The money for providing information to voters comes out of the county's overall
information technology budget, which is $218,000 this year.
In Iowa, 29 counties do not have Web sites they use for election purposes or for
their county in general. Many auditors said their counties could not afford the cost
of launching a site and paying for maintenance.
Marion County Auditor Jake Grandia said the county is in the process of
developing its site, although there could be a hefty price tag to build and maintain
it.
"I've heard these pages can run anywhere from $1,500 to $9,000," Grandia said.
Marion County's Web site, which will include links to every county department,
will not be ready by the 2006 election, Grandia said, but returns will be posted by
2008.
At least two Iowa counties, Marion and Winneshiek, are still in the process of
starting Web sites.
Not everyone is jumping on the technology train, however.
Shelby County Auditor Marsha Carter said the idea of launching a site for
election results had been discussed, but because of budgeting and staffing, she
has not taken the next step to starting one, she said.
"It's always money," Carter said. "The real problem is not budgeting for (a Web
site), it's getting personnel to maintain it."
Carter said the county used to have a full-time information technology employee
but now contracts with people from the outside.
"Our main online concerns are network problems, not maintaining the site we
have," Carter said.
For the time being, Carter said, her office is content with faxing or calling in
results to anyone who requests them.
Currently, both Shelby and Marion counties release election results to residents
via faxes, telephone calls, and e-mail.
Shelby County's population is about 13,000; Marion's is about 34,000.
Still, Grandia said, the thought of being able to post results on election night will
make things "much easier for people."
"I think a lot of people will visit (the site)," he said.