CTCL hit the road and traveled to Houston, Texas to lead a 90-minute interactive session at the annual conference of the National Association of County Recorders, Election Officials and Clerks on August 22.

Founded in 1949, NACRC has a mission to provide professional training and leadership development on issues that affect the work of county recorders, election officials, and clerks. The organization provides this support through educational programs as well as by exploring technology innovations, monitoring legislation on national issues, and promoting communication and collaboration between members.

Entitled “Developing Your Tech Skills to Improve Elections in Your Jurisdiction,” our session was intended to foster discussion between election officials about how technology can streamline their work.

Our session had three sections in which we dealt with some basic questions about using tech tools to provide civic information to the public:

1. How to use mobile technology: Why is mobile tech important? How can it best be used to share election information?
2. How to prioritize content: What are voters’ informational priorities? How are they different from your own?
3. How to write in plain language: How can you make election information easy for all voters to understand? How do you write important ideas using simple, plain language?

Each of these three sections included a breakout exercise where participants shared their viewpoints, collaborated, and then reported back to the group. More than just a presentation, the session was a conversation that benefitted from the diverse and fresh perspectives of our audience members.

In addition to presenting our own session at the conference, we attended an engaging panel discussion called “Elevating Election Partnerships and Participation.” Moderated by Neal Kelley, who is Registrar for Orange County, and Allegra Chapman, Director of Voting and Elections for Common Cause, the panel focused on new ways that election officials are building partnerships with their constituents, legislators, and community advocacy organizations to advance modern election reforms.

Elevating Election Partnerships and Participation @PamAndJeffco @BernCoClerk @OCRegistrar @CommonCause #NACRC15 pic.twitter.com/Aiwnz0TMVS

— ELECTricity (@TheElectionBuzz) August 22, 2015

Panelists for this talk included Pam Anderson, Executive Director of the Colorado County Clerks Association and former County Clerk and Recorder of Jefferson County (CO), and Maggie Toulouse Oliver, County Clerk of Bernalillo County (NM). Pam shared her experience of working with Democrats and Republicans to pass election legislation in Colorado, while Maggie talked about the importance of compromise, persistence, and diplomacy in the state legislative process.

We want to thank NACRC for the opportunity to participate in their conference and meet local government professionals from across the country. Thanks, too, to all of the panelists and audience members who made the experience interesting and memorable!

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