Revamped ELEC website sucks

Election Law Enforcement Commission Homepage

In my humble, humble opinion, it sucks.

I use the ELEC site periodically -- which means at election times. Have done so for years, without problems.

Well, except the clunky way the search engine works, but that's another matter.

When I tried to get some reports during this past June's Primary Election cycle, it was like butting your head against the wall.

Clicking on the report search button caused my browser to freeze. OK, I fired up IE (NOT my browser of choice), and tried again. Ditto. I rebooted and tried over. Results consistent.

There were no indications on the site that indicated things had changed -- EXCEPT, there was a small note that the site was 'powered by Crystal Reports'. I didn't remember that from the last time I used the site.

I called the number listed on ELEC's front page and was quickly connected to what sounded like a young man who very politely asked what seemed to be the problem.

When I told him I was using Firefox as my browser, he said it was not supported. When I said that I had also tried Internet Explorer but that it, too, froze, he said that I needed to update my Java runtime environment.

OK.

That didn't work either, so I sort of gave up on the reports and wandered off. After all, there ARE other things to do in life, even for a political junkie.

A few days later, a friend, a candidate's wife, called to complain that she wasn't able to access the reports.

A day or two later, I ran into another friend on the way to a Council meeting. She said she, too, was unable to get at the reports.

So, I went back to take another look. This time I spotted TWO links I had never noticed before. One was to a help line specifically for WEB related questions. The other turned out to be a popup window entitled "Best Viewing Requirements"

That nice little popup window repeated the information the gent had given me over the phone.

What's wrong with this picture?

I can't believe the state government thinks we should all be using Internet Explorer. Firefox has about 13% of the market and is growing. What about Opera? What about Apple's Safari, including the new public beta of its Windows version?

Sheez!

Would be glad to hear if the mileage of other people matches my own.

dandamon at comcast dot net.

-- Dan Damon

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