Community Outreach Activities 1996
A publication entitled, "Election Tips" was designed and distributed to all voter registration sites. The publication provided tips to voters on ways to be sure that their vote can be counted.
The Election Office coordinated the mailing of an informational flyer regarding advance voting with the annual property value statements sent out by the County Appraiser's Department. This interdepartmental cooperative effort resulted in the savings of approximately $30,000 in postage.
The Election Office launched a website on January 1, 1996 as a means to encourage voter education and participation in the election process. The site featured information for the voter, as well as candidates, including voter registration, advance voting, election calendar, candidate biographical data, registration sites, and voting locations. Additionally a student information section with educational website links was included.
The February 27, 1996, election marked the first time that election results were available on the Internet in the State of Kansas. Our results were posted immediately to the home page for access by the news media and candidates.
Members of the Lenexa Republican Women's Club were guests of the Election Office on January 13. The Election Commissioner presented an informational session on the election process and conducted a tour of the Election Office.
Lenexa Chamber of Commerce members visited the Election Office on January 25. Guests received information about the election process including advance voting and were given a tour of the facilities.
On February 6, Merriam Chamber of Commerce members toured the Election Office and received informational materials about advance voting and the election process.
The Olathe Chamber of Commerce participated in a voter information and election update session by the Election Commissioner on February 22. The members toured the Election Office following the session.
The Election Office conducted several informational sessions throughout the community regarding the election process, voter registration, advance voting, and the need for board workers.
Throughout 1996, the Election Commissioner was a guest speaker at the following organizational meetings:
- Gardner Chamber of Commerce
- Northeast Johnson County Republican Women's Club
- Lakeview Village Retirement Center
- Lenexa Rotary Club
- Leadership Olathe
- Merriam Lions Club
- Spring Hill Chamber of Commerce
- College Boulevard Kiwanis
- Roeland Park Methodist Church Women's Group
- Campaign School sponsored by Johnson County Republican Central Committee at Johnson County Community College
Staff visited each of the County's Nutrition Sites to distribute information regarding advance voting and other election related items.
Election office staff participated in the Johnson County Information Fair to promote voting and provided election-related informational flyers to the public.
A news article about advance voting and an application for a ballot were printed in the June edition of the Aging Department's newsletter, Best Times. The publication was sent to 25,000 seniors.
The Election Office and various local newspapers coordinated efforts to publish the application for advance ballot and election information in order to encourage voter participation in the election process.
The Sun Newspaper's "Voters Guide" included an application for an advance ballot, as well as other news articles provided by this office. In the week prior to Election Day, advance voting was the "news" story, appearing on the evening news on Channels 41, 4 and 5.
The award winning Advance Voting poster, designed by a Shawnee Mission Northwest student, was printed and distributed throughout the County. One thousand posters were printed free of charge by the Kansas City Star's "Democracy in the Next Generation" program. Additionally 5,000 posters were printed at-cost by the Shawnee Mission School District. These posters were delivered to the Secretary of State's Office, for distribution statewide.
Kansas Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh announced that Microsoft Corporation had launched a complimentary website for Secretaries of State and local Election Offices nationwide.
Microsoft Corporation and the Johnson County Election Office in Kansas developed the program so that students around the country could learn about their state and election information within their county and state. This innovative program gave every city, county and state election office in the United States the opportunity to have a home page on the World Wide Web, at no cost, to share facts, history, voting statistics and student outreach practices with students, teachers and the education community. This made it an ideal resource for classes all across America to take part in the election process.
" We must recognize the fact that technology will demand many changes in every aspect of the voting process, and voter education is a vital piece for our younger voters," said Secretary Thornburgh. "By providing this free vehicle to educate our future voters, Microsoft Corporation is giving students the advantage of utilizing one of the most powerful information tools as we head into the twenty-first century."
The public, teachers and students could access this website called Global Schoolhouse at the following Internet address: http://www.gsh.org.
Last Updated: June 21, 2010 2:14 PM
