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* The Illinois State Board of Elections has revamped its website. Click here.
* The Question: Your rating? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 2:52 pm
Sorry, comments are closed at this time.
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I was so hoping for a successful revamp. But clearly they didn’t do user testing. The information is buried in some cases even worse. Really bummed that they didn’t get this right.
Comment by Chicago Cynic Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 2:56 pm
I’ve been disappointed in the redesign of Illinois.gov and this just continues the trend. At least I was so used to the clunky old site that finding info was easy. This is as clunky, but now everything is harder to find.
But it looks like the rest of the re-do, but I’m not sure that’s a compliment.
Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 3:00 pm
I rated it 2. This revamp is WAY better than before. No need to constantly download csv files and work clunky spreadsheets to find simple info. But in my small amount of time using the new version, it still has some minor bugs to fix, such as the pages not loading every time and 2018/2019 election info still on there as we gear up for 2020.
Comment by Truthiness Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 3:00 pm
===in some cases even worse===
It’s awful. They missed an opportunity to do things like link candidate petition filings to candidate campaign disclosures. It’s the same old information with a different background color.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 3:00 pm
It’s kind of rough for the user interface for getting to actual data, but I’m more worried about whether or not it keeps the Russians out.
And I can’t test for that.
Comment by Candy Dogood Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 3:00 pm
That is about as bad as it gets for a government website. Small text. Not user friendly.
Comment by Smalls Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 3:08 pm
It is literally the same website with a different template.
Welcome to microsoft sharepoint server circa 2006
Comment by Ok Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 3:09 pm
Still does not allow for many links to be opened in a new tab. Why to they do that?
Comment by RWP Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 3:09 pm
Much better than before.
Now the Secretary of State needs to do theirs. That hasn’t been updated in decades.
Comment by Ace Chase Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 3:11 pm
I navigated “Campaign Disclosures,” “Searches,” “Contributions Search,” “By All Contributions,” “All Types,” entered “Uiehlein” in the last name bar and hit “Search.”
It came back with one contribution from Richard Uiehlein to “Citizens for Brannigan” in the amount of $5,000 on 4/1/19.
I did it three more times, same result.
I don’t think that’s an accurate accounting of his contribution history. Where did the rest of them go?
Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 3:14 pm
Also, I thought everyone realized last decade that having a centrally featured search bar on your website isn’t helpful just because it is there.
Yea, you can put it there, but it doesn’t search any of the information people are looking for. Just random documents.
Comment by Ok Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 3:17 pm
Rated a 2.
Too similar to the old version to be really great. Some things were easier to find, but still looks like it was made with a Commodore 64.
Comment by MadManMad Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 3:19 pm
It’s got a lot of bugs and I can’t figure out if some of the things that aren’t working are by design for security or other reasons or if they’re just not working.
@Wordslinger try “Uihlein”. I think you may have the wrong spelling.
Comment by The Captain Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 3:19 pm
Echoing the other comments. Looks very done on the cheap without the assistance of skilled web site designers.
Also, a tomb is a rather depressing choice for the background picture.
Comment by Moe Berg Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 3:24 pm
@ace chase
But I don’t want the SOS to get rid of the cyberdriveillinois URL. It reminds me of simpler times when I would get AOL CDs in the mail and download songs from Napster.
Comment by Fax Machine Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 3:29 pm
Campaign Disclosure -> Fines Due List. Fun reading.
But rated a 2. Pretty much impossible to be worse than what was there before, but not a 1 because it’s not a vast improvement considering how long the redesign notification was on their previous page. They had a long time to do this, and it doesn’t really show.
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 3:30 pm
Do you have to print out A-1s to view? Graphics overlie results. Amateur. I’ll stick with the old reliable one despite its faults.
Comment by Hack in the Back Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 3:35 pm
I, for one, welcome the SBE into the 2000’s
Comment by AlienOverlord Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 3:36 pm
I think the website is a vast improvement. The only site that looked worse than the original is capitolfax.com.
Comment by Faceless man Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 3:38 pm
===looked worse than the original===
LOL
That site was just a large set of links.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 3:39 pm
Please clap
Comment by ChairmanCadigan Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 3:40 pm
Too much information on most of the pages, also it would seem some sort or sorting on the results pages is too much to ask on contribution searches.
Comment by OneMan Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 3:42 pm
I voted 3. The search engines looks like all they did was change the background. I don’t see any substantial changes to how produce varying contribution searches. So, fine I guess since I know how to navigate this but doesn’t do anything to improve transparency, if that was the goal.
I don’t know if the reporting is any less cumbersome and I won’t until 9PM the day before the next filing.
Comment by Anon-I-Guess Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 3:43 pm
–@Wordslinger try “Uihlein”. I think you may have the wrong spelling.–
LOL, you are correct, my bonehead misspelling, thanks. The correct spelling comes up with a boatload to the tune of $29 million.
Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 3:47 pm
Can’t see the info for donors when clicking an A1. Fail.
Comment by sewer thoughts Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 4:01 pm
You can still use the old site at
Old.Elections.il.gov
Comment by Fax Machine Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 4:03 pm
I gave it a 2- same site different colors. Search feature has not improved
Comment by Anon Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 4:06 pm
And just like that, late 90s web design relate 2000s web design. Progress.
Comment by Southern Illinois Mayor Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 4:08 pm
Rated it a 3. I was trying to navigate the site today and couldn’t find the updated voter registration numbers by jurisdiction which used to be front and center on the old homepage. What gives?
The background photo is also really distracting when scrolling through things.
Comment by Northside City Dweller Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 4:49 pm
Better. Not great.
I’m more concerned about what is going on behind the scenes with security.
Comment by SIUEalum Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 4:51 pm
The best feature is “return to old site”
Comment by Interested Bystander Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 4:55 pm
It *looks* much better than it did before (of course, anything would have looked better than that). But it just looks like the info is all in kind of the same place - and there isn’t much new. Although, I haven’t done a deep dive on the site yet.
Comment by Tony Kendall Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 5:04 pm
DoIT really isn’t that competent. I kind of wish we contracted more IT within the state as the DoIT staff don’t seem to stay up to date much.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 5:32 pm
I only care about campaign disclosure. I spent five minutes trying to find the search engine. Horrible.
Comment by Dudley Magoo Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 5:32 pm
looks nice, but problems as I looked for committees and most recent filings. what happened to 2019? that is right off the bat wrong to leave that out. loads slowly and it’s not just about my connection. does not seem to be ready to go. did they test?
Comment by Amalia Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 5:46 pm
I hope they did t spend any real money on this, because I guess it looks better, but it seems just as much of a mess as the old site. Also, did DoIT and the SBE improve the security on this version, or are they just hoping the Russians don’t catch them sleeping again?
Comment by Anonymoose Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 5:48 pm
Pretty bad
Comment by Bavette Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 5:49 pm
Voted 3 but want the change it to 5 after looking at it a little more. It won’t replace illinoissunshine.org for me anytime soon.
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 6:25 pm
did they even hire a UX (user experience) or front end person? like uffda, that’s some of the worst web design i’ve seen
Comment by tweed Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 8:00 pm
It is like maybe 10 percent better. it’s like they put new siding on the house, but you still need to go through the same maze to find out what’s in the fridge
Comment by Siriusly Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 10:38 pm
It’s the first time I have visited the site, so I gave it a 1 because it looks great on my iPhone 6s—a lot of times I get frustrated with websites when they do not take the time to consider the mobile user. This site looks great and acts great.
Comment by Cal Stone Tuesday, Jun 4, 19 @ 11:39 pm
Dove in a bit further and discovered that the website still looks good but needs some more instructions—I got caught in the map rolling all over, but what I really wanted was to click below the map and enter my zip code/address. Once I entered my zip/address, I was pleased to see all elected officials—even some officials that I did not realize we’re part of my community.
Comment by Cal Stone Wednesday, Jun 5, 19 @ 12:04 am
Sorry, meant “were”
Must be that auto-correct
Comment by Cal Stone Wednesday, Jun 5, 19 @ 12:07 am
It’s still bad.
Comment by A guy Wednesday, Jun 5, 19 @ 9:02 am
Meh …gave it a thre… Low expectations on my part.
Comment by theCardinal Wednesday, Jun 5, 19 @ 9:08 am
Gave it a 2.
It’s not the worst because that was the previous design. They only worked on aesthetics (or front end design) and did nothing with the back end.
They need to update the search function. I shouldn’t enter an address on one line.
There should be field for address, direction, street type, city, zip.
I also agree with the above comments about results from disclosures. It’s like they are actually trying to make it harder to find contributions.
Comment by MG85 Wednesday, Jun 5, 19 @ 9:16 am
I’m usually blocked from giving political opinions
or talking to the media if I don’t support Republicans so I like this site and it’s easy to use.
Comment by Rusty Wednesday, Jun 5, 19 @ 1:23 pm
There are several issues with the new site.
The text is too large to read any dropdown box selections (at least in firefox).
For navigation, the giant list of links is better on mobile. On PC, they’re too small and overwhelming.
On the downloadable vote total page, 2019 is missing.
You should be able to export all lists, but can’t.
I was going to provide feedback through their site, but the text box is too small for my patience (seems about 30 characters wide). I did test the form, after noticing no options in their required drop-down fields, and found it’s not possible to submit feedback at all (bringing their score to worst).
Comment by Analyst Thursday, Jun 6, 19 @ 7:10 am