{"id":74999,"date":"2025-06-09T07:41:58","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T14:41:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=74999"},"modified":"2025-06-10T13:31:36","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T20:31:36","slug":"behind-the-ballot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/behind-the-ballot\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the ballot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Citizens of the United States can participate in one of the vital functions of their democracy by casting a vote for their preferred candidate in local, state and federal elections. On the surface, the voting process seems simple: you fill out the ballot and cast your vote. However, what goes on behind the scenes is much more complex.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To prepare students interested in working on the administrative side of elections, NAU has partnered with the Arizona Secretary of State\u2019s office to provide a new, fully online certificate in Election Administration for <\/span>undergraduate<\/span><\/a> or <\/span>graduate<\/span><\/a> students.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sara Rinfret<\/span><\/b>, professor and director of the Master of Public Affairs program in the Department of Politics and International Affairs, said this certificate will provide employment opportunities for students in one of Arizona\u2019s county election offices or the Arizona Secretary of State\u2019s office.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a good pipeline for career placement for our students interested in the administrative aspects of an election,\u201d Rinfret said. \u201cWe are not focusing on how to run a campaign, but instead, we want our students to understand how the administrative side of elections works through the lens of public administration.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although some universities offer different election-related degrees, research institutes or training, NAU\u2019s approach is unique because it affords students a flexible online curriculum and a culminating <\/span>fellowship experience<\/span><\/a> that\u2019s already seen success in Arizona. <\/span>The certificate may be pursued and completed concurrently with a degree program or as a standalone certificate. Credits from the certificate can also be applied to NAU\u2019s <\/span>Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration\u2014<\/span>accredited M<\/span>PA program.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes a little over a year to complete the certificate, which is open to anyone with a high school diploma or bachelor\u2019s degree,\u201d Rinfret said. \u201cIt includes a total of five courses: an introduction to election administration class, a voter registration to canvassing class, a technology, security and planning class and a class on best practices, followed by a fifth and final class\u2014a fellowship in one of Arizona\u2019s 15 counties.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another unique aspect of this new offering is that the classes are co-taught by an NAU faculty member and a practicing election administrator, providing students with practical information on what happens behind the ballots.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been a lot of misinformation about how elections are run,\u201d Rinfret said. \u201cOnce students understand this process, we can strengthen our democracy. Elections are instrumental in having a vibrant democracy, and it\u2019s important to provide that educational lens while creating career pathways for our students. This certificate allows them to be engaged in our democratic process in a nonpartisan way, while understanding the \u2018doing\u2019 side of elections.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The deadline to register for the Election Administration Certificate is Aug. 1. Students with a 3.0 GPA and above will be automatically enrolled when they apply. The cohort is limited to 20 students. Those interested in enrolling <\/span>can register to participate in the information session scheduled for June 30.<\/span><\/a> For more information about the certificate, see <\/span>NAU\u2019s academic catalog<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/a>Mariana Laas | NAU Communications
\n(928) 523-5050 | mariana.laas@nau.edu<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Citizens of the United States can participate in one of the vital functions of their democracy by casting a vote for their preferred candidate in local, state and federal elections. On the surface, the voting process seems simple: you fill out the ballot and cast your vote. However, what goes on behind the scenes is…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":75002,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-academics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}