1. Voter Information Portal
Presented by:
Marianne Cardwell, Woolpert, Inc.
Cheryl Spencer, City of Indianapolis
February 23, 2010

2. Overview
History
Demo
Architecture

3. History

4. History First Polling Place Locator in late 1990’s. Original vision
To locate a voter’s polling location based on their address.
Used ArcIMS-based technology to display polling location information in a web application.
Voter Information Portal (VIP) is the 4th generation of the Polling Place Locator.
ESRI ArcIMS geocoding to locate an address. Use the x,y coordinate of the address to determine the precinct. Lookup polling place related to the precinct selected. Return polling place information to the user.
2nd version provided additional functionality such as verifying registration and discovering candidates and districts.
3rd generation replaced most ArcIMS functionality with ArcGIS Server technology (not the map).

5. Challenges
Geocoding
Used fallback (composite) geocoding from parcels to streets.
Unable to locate 100% of addresses in Marion County
Missing information
Match scores not meeting threshold set in locator
In a few cases street range interpolation put the address coordinate in the wrong precinct.
Match scores

6. Geocoding

7. Geocoding (2)

8. Geocoding (3)

9. Application and Server Performance
Acquired LoadRunner software in ? Was finally able to better identify problems before the application went to production. Was able to optimize server resources and tweak the application slightly to achieve better overall performance. Main goal was to keep the application up and running.

10. Indiana Statewide Voter Registration System
Went online in 2005 and first used by Marion County in 2006.
Must be a registered voter to get polling place information.
Must enter birth date information.
Clerk’s office decided they wanted to keep the Marion County version. Display elected officials, candidates and additional district information.

11. Voter Information Portal
Upgrade technology
Find a way to achieve better geocode matches.
Same functionality as previous versions with the addition of sample ballots.
Create a management portal for the Election Board personnel to manage candidates, sample ballots, and update elected official information.

12. Demo

13. VIP Demo
Include video, just in case!

14. Architecture

15. Overall Architecture (1)

16. Overall Architecture (2)
Service-oriented architecture.
Bulk of logic in services.
JavaScript code mainly contains page layout and interaction.

17. Dojo Widgets VIP uses 10 custom widgets:
Address component: provides geocoding-like functionality.
Tabs: each VIP tab is a widget. Provides user with information obtained from the Elections Service.
Directions widget: provides directions using Microsoft’s Bing Maps API.
Widgets developed so they can be used in other web applications.

18. Address Component (1)
Custom Dojo widget used within a number of online city applications.
User can enter street addresses or intersections.
Lists suggestions.
Uses city’s Master Address Database (MAD). No geocoding or ArcObjects.
No ArcObjects means more flexibility in where service is installed.

19. Address Component (2) MAD (Oracle) GIS (SDE) 150 E Washington St x0,y0
200
x0,y0
100
x2,y2
x1,y1
150 E Washington St
MAD (Oracle)
Parcel Addresses
Building Addresses
Unit Addresses
Street Address Ranges
GIS (SDE)
Parcels Polygon FC
Buildings Polygon FC
Units Point FC
Streets Polyline FC
Steps:
Widget uses parcel, building & apartment addresses stored in MAD => more accurate location of address, which improves accuracy of polling place returned.
Once address is located in MAD, SQL API is used to obtain the address’s XY coordinates.
If address is not found in MAD, street is found in MAD, its geometry is obtained using SQL API, and the XY location is obtained using simple trigonometry.

20. Election Service – Structure
WCF Service with 2 interfaces with identical methods:
Client-side applications interface: methods are REST-enabled and called via GET requests. All input parameters are strings.
Server-side applications interface: service can easily be added as a service reference in Visual Studio. Input parameter types vary.

21. Election Service – Functionality
Possible Inputs:
Address
XY coordinates
Precinct
Returns:
polling place locations
satellite voting locations
voter registration information
voting districts
elected officials
candidates
ballots

22. Obtaining Polling Place
Input: XY coordinates
Point in Polygon Query: which precinct polygon is point in?
Tabular Query: which polling place is associated with the precinct?
Query Web Service
APIP
Web Service

23. Obtaining Elected Officials (1)
Input: XY coordinates
Tabular Query: get list of positions
For each position, get precinct feature class
Point in Polygon Query: which precinct is it in?
Tabular Query: which elected official is in this position in this district?
APIP
Web Service

24. Obtaining Elected Officials (2)
Positions Table
Districts Table

25. Obtaining Elected Officials (3)

26. Questions?