By JC Medina
The Thurston County Auditor’s Office received national recognition for its innovative voter outreach campaign, earning the prestigious Cleary Award from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
County Auditor Mary Hall said the award, often considered the "Academy Award" of election administration, highlights efforts that improve accessibility, security and public trust in the electoral process.
“This really is like the Academy Award of election awards,” said Hall during the Tuesday, May 6, Thurston County Board of County Commissioners meeting.
“Every county in the country applies for this and we’ve applied for years, and I’m thrilled that we won for our outreach efforts,” she added.
The winning project, titled “Your Neighbors, Your Elections,” showcased unscripted video testimonials from local election workers, aiming to humanize the people behind the ballot-counting process.
The campaign was praised for promoting transparency and rebuilding trust in elections amid widespread misinformation and threats against election officials.
“We brought people together and wanted to show the community who really is behind elections, and it’s your neighbors,” Hall said.
The auditor added that the videos created more trust in the election system.
“Every election worker featured in the videos volunteered,” said Hall, adding that their team have faced threats, including receiving a fentanyl-laced envelope in a prior year.
“It was very courageous of them to step up,” Hall noted.
The project was produced entirely in-house at minimal cost, further earning accolades for resourcefulness.
Communications Manager Emmett O’Connell explained the strategy behind the effort, noting that they have organized communications into three areas: voting information, how ballots are counted and human stories.
O’Connell said the biggest success metric was the positive shift in online engagement.
Thurston County beat out submissions from major jurisdictions, including Los Angeles and Pierce counties, in the large county category.
HotTractor
Well done!
Tuesday, May 13 Report this