A Chester County leader’s pioneering online election work has received a big vote of confidence from a national policy network. Wolf Administration Deputy Secretary for Elections and Administration Marian K. Schneider has been selected to receive the Election Verification Network’s Public Guardian Award this year.

“Marian Schneider is respected across the country for her vigorous, informed advocacy of verifiable voting systems,” the award’s Coordinating Committee Chair Mark Lindeman said in a staff report for The Times of Chester County. “As deputy secretary for elections and administration, she has further distinguished herself through her role in implementing a secure and user-friendly online voting registration system. Pennsylvania is fortunate to be able to draw upon her depth and breadth of expertise in election administration.”

EVN specializes in election system privacy, accessibility, civil rights and voter experience, and Schneider has spent time serving as a senior attorney for Advancement Project, including litigation to move the inadequate Lower Oxford East polling place and the fight over Pennsylvania’s photo ID law.

“I am very honored and touched to be recognized by such an esteemed group of scholars, elections officials and advocates as EVN,” Schneider said of the award in the article. “I look forward to putting our shared values into practice in my role as deputy secretary.”

Read more about Schneider’s work and the Public Guardian Award in The Times of Chester County here.