The Pew Charitable Trusts - State and Consumer Initiatives about Technology

Election Data Dispatches

Election Data Dispatches provides data, research and analysis about election administration in the U.S.

There’s an App for That State Service

States are increasingly turning to mobile applications to provide information and services to citizens.

Feds Look to Partner With States on Cybersecurity

Protecting critical infrastructure such as power utilities and the water supply from cyberattacks poses particular challenges because much of it is controlled by the private sector. States have an important role to play in keeping the country safe.

After Boston Bombings, a Failure of Communications

Congress approved $7 billion to build a national public safety broadband network, but making it work will require buy-in from 60,000 public safety agencies. The Boston Marathon bombings gave fresh urgency to the issue.

Facebook Partners with Attorneys General in Teen Online Safety Campaign

Facebook has been revamping its much-maligned privacy practices under a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. Now, the social networking giant is teaming with state attorneys’ general to educate teens about how to navigate the digital world without endangering their safety and privacy.

States’ Free Online Tax Filing Services Often Overlooked

Some 20 states allow taxpayers to file income tax online for free. Is your state one of them?

States Rack Up Victories in Bids to Collect Online Sales Taxes

After more than a decade of trying, state officials think they may get to collect billions of dollars of taxes on online sales soon. Find out why.

States in Recovery: Manufacturing

After decades of decline, American manufacturing is on the upswing: advanced technology is a reason why.

Cyberattack: The Silent Nightmare

Every state knows that a deceptive computer hack-attack could bring crucial activities to a standstill. But most states are doing little about it. Michigan is an exception.

States, Feds Poised to Write New Chapter in Public Safety Communications

As a plan for a national emergency network takes shape, many questions remain unanswered.

Accessible Voting Machines

The federal Help America Vote Act of 2002 requires that all voting systems be accessible to people with disabilities, including the ability to vote privately and independently.

Wisconsin’s Data Collection Tool

Elections produce a lot of data—see for example Pew’s recent report describing these many data points, Election Administration by the Numbers.

Inaccurate Voter Registrations

At least 51 million eligible citizens—more than 24 percent of the eligible population—still are not registered to vote, according to a new report from the Pew Center on the States’ Election Initiatives.

Inaccurate, Costly, and Inefficient

Research in Pew's report underscores the need for registration systems that better maintain voter records, save money, and streamline processes.

Facebook IPO Could Bring Windfall for California

TODAY'S TAKE: Legislative analysts say California could see as much as $1 billion in new revenue after Facebook, the Menlo Park-based social networking giant, goes public.

Removing Voters from the Rolls, Part Two

A few weeks ago, we looked at how most voters removed from the rolls in Washington, D.C., in 2008–2010 were removed because of their death. Nationally, however, inactivity is the most common reason voters are removed from

New Report Evaluates State Election Websites

A new report from the Pew Center on the States finds that many states have improved their election sites since 2008, but there are still missed opportunities to better help and inform voters online. Being Online Is Still Not Enough assessed

Being Online is Still Not Enough

Millions are turning to official state election websites to find the information they need to cast a ballot. Being Online Is Still Not Enough provides state-by-state reviews and analysis based on detailed criteria of election websites for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Being Online Is Still Not Enough

This 2011 report provided state-by-state reviews and analysis based on detailed criteria of election websites for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Matt Morse: Voting Information

In today’s information-driven, highly mobile society, people expect the information they need to be available immediately and through multiple online platforms. Pew’s Election Initiatives has spent three years developing the Voting Information Project, which leverages technology to increase voter access to critical election information and improve the efficiency of state election administration. The project works with election offices, Google, Microsoft, AT&T, Facebook, civic groups, and numerous outlets around the country to deliver important answers to voters’ most commonly asked questions.

Introducing the Voting Information Project

The Voting Information Project is an innovative and proven service that uses the latest technology to provide voters with the information they need to cast a ballot.

Does the New iPhone's 'Siri' Make Texting While Driving Legit?

New voice-activated services make it possible to send text messages with both hands on the wheel. As drivers begin to use these new technologies, states may have to decide what they will and won't allow on the road.

Michigan Bucks National Trend on Tech Jobs

TODAY'S TAKE: The United States lost 116,000 high-tech jobs between 2009 and 2010, but Michigan countered the trend by gaining 2,700 positions - more than any other state, according to a new study.

In North Carolina, a Reversal on Municipal Broadband

A state that once was known for aggressive government involvement in rolling out high-speed Internet services has dismantled a key state agency and passed a law making it nearly impossible for cities to operate their own networks.

Amazon Fighting California Tax Law at the Ballot Box

TAX & BUDGET BEAT: Online retailers are challenging a new law that forces them to collect California sales taxes, setting up a costly ballot measure campaign.

How Many Governors Are Using Social Media?

A Stateline look at Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube found that all of these services are being used by more than half of the nation's governors - and two of the services are used by almost all of them.

As Shuttle Program Ends, States Step Up Roles in Space

With NASA focused on deep-space missions, the federal government is increasingly turning to private companies to handle more routine flights. Now, states are competing to lure the space entrepreneurs-and the high-tech jobs they promise-to their new or refashioned launch facilities.

Voting Information Project

The Voting Information Project (VIP) is an innovative and proven service that provides voters with the information they need to cast a ballot—when they need it and where they are most likely to look for it.

Virtual Education Boom Hits the States

Long-distance learning through electronic technology has been around a long time. Now, with budgets tight everywhere, it is becoming much more than a fad.

Feds' Transportation Dollars Will Be Tight

For the third straight year, Congress will try to write a multi-year bill providing money for surface transportation. But even if it finally passes, it most likely will not go very far toward solving state needs for maintenance and new construction.

Even in this Economy, States Struggle to Recruit IT Personnel

MANAGEMENT BEAT: Qualified IT staff remain difficult for states to recruit … Legislators eye state websites for ad revenue … A defined contribution plan may raise pension costs in Kentucky, and other government management news.

Virginia Legislature Launches iPad Experiment

Laptop computers were supposed to help state legislators cut down on the amount of paper they used to write laws. It didn't work. Will it be any different with Apple's new tablet computer?

States Ride Broadband Wave

With an infusion of even more funding for planning since the National Broadband Plan was released in March, states are moving ahead with efforts to expand high-quality broadband access, even as a court ruling against the FCC's net neutrality authority leaves them seeking clarity.

The Squeeze on Big Bird

Idaho Reports is a weekly news program about politics that appears all over the state on public television. Normally it's quite civil. But one recent show took an awkward turn when the host asked about Governor Butch Otter's proposal to eliminate the program's funding. "Can you give us an update," moderator Thanh Tan asked, "on where we stand in terms of the agencies that face a possible phase-out…which includes the agency that produces this program?" Guest Wayne Hammon, the state budget director, replied that "the governor felt he had no other choice." The challenges that Idaho Public Television is facing are emblematic of the decisions that public television agencies and stations around the country will have to make if states decide that public television is no longer a business they can afford to be in. According to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), state and local funding for public television stations nationwide declined by $36 million between 2008 and 2009. CPB forecasts an additional $45 to $49 million in state and local cuts for the upcoming fiscal year.

Summary of the Massachusetts State of the Commonwealth Address

Although the recession opened up a $9 billion budget gap over the past two fiscal years, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) has promised not to cut funding to education and to use the state's high bond rating to invest in construction projects.

Making the Election System Work for Military and Overseas Voters

Problems arise for military and civilian overseas voting at every step of the process, from maintaining accurate registration rolls for a highly mobile population, to casting ballots and ensuring the votes are counted to providing information to navigate the complex process of requirements and deadlines.

States Expand Videoconferencing in Prisons

Faced with the high costs of transporting and escorting sick inmates to the doctor, states are expanding their use of videoconferencing to provide health consultations to prisoners without resorting to costly — and sometimes dangerous — off-site trips.

States Advance With Patient-Centered Care

As President Obama pushes for widespread health care reform, state-based programs for chronically ill patients that focus on prevention and improving long-term health - and cutting costs - are emerging as working models.

Report: Voting Glitches Could Disrupt Election

In two weeks, the American voting system will be stressed as never before with record voter registration and expected large turnouts. But the greatest pressure will fall on 11 battleground states whose stars are aligned for an election debacle: tight races coupled with radical changes in their voting systems.

Being Online Is Not Enough

This 2008 report examined election websites' usability and found that when voters cannot easily locate information online, limited resources are diverted to operate costly help lines.

New Report Faults State Election Websites

Iowa got the highest marks and New Hampshire the lowest in a new 50-state analysis of state election Web sites that finds most of them fail to provide the kind of easily accessible information voters need, such as where and when to vote and what will be on the ballot.

Gustav Draws Attention to Fla. Generator Law

Power outages caused by Hurricane Gustav have shut down gas stations throughout Louisiana this week, but Florida officials are hoping a little-known state law can help them avoid the same complication the next time a major storm reaches their shores - which could be this weekend.

Summertime Blues Hit States

Michael and Fern Merle-Jones had every reason to be nervous this summer. The couple run a small wedding company on the blissful Hawaiian island of Kauai, marrying couples at beaches, waterfalls, gardens and a lush fern grotto. For a little extra, they'll release butterflies.

States Get Help Expanding Telemedicine

For more than a decade, states have urged health care providers to use telemedicine to boost the quality of medical care in rural communities. Maine and other states just got federal grants to build the health information highway to make that possible.

NFL blitzes state capitols in fight with cable

The National Football League is turning to state legislatures, starting with Texas and Wisconsin, to try to get cable companies to carry its start-up football channel.

Govs' e-mail purges raise hackles

E-mail has become the communications tool of choice in the past decade, but imbroglios involving the governors of Missouri and Texas show that the rules of paperless messaging are still evolving and can create problems for state government.

Digital Billboards Get Green Light

LOS ANGELES - As the federal government gives the go-ahead for digital billboards, states consider their safety and visual impact. Industry advocates support the new technology, while critics say the signs distract drivers and "clutter" the landscape.

California Could Be 3rd State to Ban Forced RFID Implants

It sounds like sci-fi, but some states are making sure their citizens will never be forced to have microchips implanted under their skin.

Minnesota Takes the Lead in E-Cycling

Five state legislatures took steps this year to curb the threat of toxic waste created by the proliferation of discarded computer gear and other digital junk, making 2007 a banner year for passage of electronic recycling laws.

Governors Are Fair-Weather Facebook Friends

Few of the 39 governors who signed up for Facebook pages during the last election are still trolling social networking sites for friends and supporters, a gaffe that some experts say could be a political mistake.