Douglas County Clerk’s Election Office receives excellence in election administration

LAWRENCE, Kan. (WIBW) - The Douglas County Clerk’s Election Office received a Clearinghouse Award for excellence in election administration.

Douglas County Clerk’s Election Office announced the Clearinghouse award was awarded for “outstanding innovations in elections - small/medium jurisdictions.” Also, known as the “Clearies,” the U.S. Election Assistant Commission (EAC) presents the awards program annually to celebrate the hard work of election offices across the country. In its seventh year, this year’s Clearie Awards honors programs that took place during the 2022 midterms.

Douglas County Clerk’s Election Office said the elections office was one of 24 programs that were recognized with a Clearie Award. The innovative program recognized uses radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to build an asset tracking system that improves security, chain-of-custody logs, and accountability for election supplies and equipment. The Clerk’s office has been working on this new system since 2019 with full deployment in 2022.

Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew shared a comment about the accomplishment.

“We appreciate the EAC recognizing this program,” Shew said. “I am thankful for all of the work from our staff and partners to build a system that not only improves our operations but shows that even smaller counties can be national leaders in innovation. A program like this helps build trust in our election system and shows our community that we are committed to securing the elections process in Douglas County.”

According to Douglas County Clerk’s Election Office, the Clearies are essential to fulfilling the EAC’s mission to serve as a clearinghouse for election administration information under the Help America Vote Act. Submissions were judged on innovation, sustainability, outreach, cost-effectiveness, replicability, and the generation of positive results. This year’s awards categories include:

Outstanding Use of HAVA Grants in Elections Modernization
Outstanding Election Official State Association Program or Local Office
Outstanding Innovation in Election Cybersecurity and Technology
Improving Accessibility for Voters with Disabilities
Outstanding Innovations in Elections – Large Jurisdictions
Outstanding Innovations in Elections – Small/Medium Jurisdictions
Best Practices in Recruiting, Retaining, and Training Poll Workers
Creative and Original “I Voted” Stickers

The EAC is an independent, bipartisan federal agency focused on election administration.

EAC Chairwoman Christy McCormick, Vice Chair Ben Hovland, Commissioner Donald Palmer, and Commissioner Thomas Hicks shared a joint statement about the award.

“The spotlight on U.S. elections has never been brighter, and the EAC is pleased to honor the work of these offices to make elections more secure, technologically advanced, and accessible to voters,” said McCormick, Hovland, Palmer, and Hicks. “Especially as election administrators prepare for the 2024 presidential election, we encourage them to review the great work of these Clearie Award-winning jurisdictions for ideas they may want to replicate in their communities.”

Learn more about the Clearies and each awardee at eac.gov.

Visit douglascountyelections.com for more information about the Douglas County Elections Office.