Wake County Elections Earn National Award for Transparency, Voter Education

Wake County elections officials earned a national Clearie Award for a transparency effort built around one idea: answer voter questions before they turn into rumors, delays or long lines.

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission recognized the Wake County Board of Elections for its Media Partnership & Transparency Initiative and also gave the office an honorable mention for training. The awards were announced May 12, and the EAC said the honorable-mention entries came from nearly 200 submissions, breaking the previous record for an off-year election.

Wake County’s submission said the county is one of the fastest-growing and most highly mobile in North Carolina, with nearly 850,000 registered voters, the largest voter population in the state. As the county that includes Raleigh and serves as the seat of state government, Wake also faces unusually heavy attention from journalists, political campaigns and voters during election seasons.

The initiative began in 2018 as a structured Media Kit model and grew over seven years and 15 elections into what the county describes as anticipatory transparency. Instead of waiting for a surge of calls or online speculation, elections staff published information in advance to strengthen voter trust, reduce misinformation and preserve staff capacity during busy election periods.

That approach is not just about press relations. Wake County’s elections website continues to center the same tools, including media kits, election information pages and detailed calendars that spell out key dates. For the 2026 general election, the county lists early voting beginning Oct. 20, 2026, with Election Day on Nov. 3, 2026.

The Clearie program itself has been part of the Election Assistance Commission’s work since 2016. The annual awards, tied to the Help America Vote Act, are meant to highlight election administration practices that can be shared with other jurisdictions. Wake’s recognition fits a broader pattern in North Carolina, where election offices have repeatedly been singled out for practical work on voter outreach and administration.

Wake County had already won a Clearie in 2020 for poll worker recruitment, retraining, retaining and training through the “Coffee with Nick” program. This latest recognition extends that track record beyond staffing and into public communication, suggesting that clear messaging, and the systems behind it, are now part of the county’s election infrastructure too.