Release from West Virginia Citizen Action Group and West Virginia Citizens for Clean Elections:
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Citizen Action Group and West Virginia Citizens for Clean Elections have shared a resource to assist media with “Guidance on Messaging the Election Results.”
The study, commissioned by Voting Rights Lab and The Leadership Conference Education Fund and conducted by Strategies 360, indicates that three concepts are particularly important for news organizations to convey and the information is outlined in the attached handouts.
“With with more people voting absentee due to health concerns, it will take longer to count all the votes and verify the winner. The polling conducted by our national voting rights partners and allies found that many voters are entirely unaware of this. The media coverage leading up to Nov. 3 can help adjust people’s expectations and alleviate their fears and concerns. We hope you’ll find this resource guide helpful and pass it along,” said Julie Archer, project manager for WV Citizen Action Group
and WV Citizens for Clean Elections
With the presidential election next week, the report said, voters across party lines fear that it may bring about unprecedented chaos, disruption, and discord. New research conducted in mid- September demonstrates that the way in which the way the election is covered in the press heavily influences these attitudes.
The data is available for all media and the public:
