New ArapahoeVotes.gov URL identifies website as trusted information for voters
As false narratives and bad information about United States elections continue to spread online, the Arapahoe County Elections Division announced a move to help residents and voters easily identify trusted information sources, changing its website domain suffix from www.arapahoevotes.com to www.arapahoevotes.gov.
The change from a .com to a .gov suffix identifies the website as a government-operated, trustworthy source of elections information. Unlike .com domains, .gov domains can only be used by websites that have been thoroughly vetted to ensure they are the property of an official government office.
More than 128,000 users visited the website in the month before the 2020 Presidential Election alone. In the same time period before the 2021 Coordinated Election, more than 27,000 users visited the site.
The website provides comprehensive elections information, from helping voters register and find locations to cast their ballots to reporting election results. Users can also find resources for candidates running for local office, sample ballots for upcoming elections, and voter turnout data. The website also publishes in-depth information on elections transparency, including explainers on mail ballot voting, equipment testing and post-election audits.
National elections security organizations such as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have been urging local government agencies to upgrade website URLs to .gov domains as a tactic to counter the efforts of bad actors trying to sow disinformation and promote distrust of elections.