Office of the Secretary of State Web Site Link Policy

The purpose of our website is to provide information that is helpful, easy to find and use. To achieve this purpose, links to and from our website are generally encouraged. However, because we are a state agency and the Secretary of State is the state’s chief election official, some restrictions and disclaimers are appropriate.

This document outlines the policies for linking to and from the Secretary of State's website.

Links to the Secretary of State's Web Site

Advance permission to link to the Secretary of State's website(s) is not necessary. However, be aware that the Secretary of State subpages may change at any time without notice. Entities and individuals linking to the Secretary of State must continuously verify links to our subpages.

Entities and individuals linking to the Secretary of State shall not capture Secretary of State pages within frames, present Secretary of State content as its own, or otherwise misrepresent Secretary of State content. Furthermore, they shall not misinform users about the origin or ownership of Secretary of State content. Certain information on the Secretary of State website may be trademarked, service-marked, or otherwise protected as intellectual property. Protected intellectual property must be used in accordance with state and federal laws and must reflect the proper ownership of the intellectual property.

Any link to the Secretary of State website should be a full forward link that passes the client browser to the Secretary of State website unencumbered.

The "Back" button should return the visitor to original site if the visitor wishes to back out.

Fees or Commissions Not Authorized

This agency does not accept fees or commissions of any kind for links or "hits" from or to our website.

Links from the Secretary of State's Website

This section outlines the criteria and requirements that external websites must meet to have a link from the Secretary of State. It also details how links are accepted and removed from the Secretary of State website.

The Secretary of State reserves the right to link to external websites that it feels would provide a service or otherwise be of value to constituents.

Criteria

Except as outlined below, links to a website are not permitted if the organization or entity sponsoring the website has a political agenda or supports a particular candidate. This office will not promote legislation, candidates or political parties on its website. No links will be allowed to private voter advocacy groups. Consistent with our statutory and constitutional duties, the Elections Division’s homepage will offer links to every political party in Texas that has achieved ballot access and may offer links to judicial candidates that are consistent with the intent of Chapter 278 of the Texas Election Code. Additionally, the Secretary of State will not link to sites that exhibit hate, bias, discrimination, pornography, libelous or otherwise defamatory content or sites that advocate or promote the use of alcohol or tobacco.

The Secretary of State does not endorse the content, products, services or viewpoints expressed by linked sites. The Secretary of State does not assume responsibility for the content of linked sites and does not independently verify or exert editorial control over information on linked sites.

Offering a link does not imply recommendation or approval from the Secretary of State and the fact that we offer a link shall not be used for advertising or promotional purposes.

The Secretary of State respects the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe that your work has been copied on a linked site in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please notify our webmaster.

Every link request must undergo review to determine its relevance and appropriateness to the purpose of the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State reserves the right to deny links if it determines that a website contains misleading or unsubstantiated claims or conflicts with the purpose of the Secretary of State.

Review Process

Email link requests to webmaster@sos.texas.gov, indicating “Link Request” in the subject line. Each link request should address how the site meets the two acceptance criteria outlined above.
The link request will be reviewed against the acceptance criteria set forth above.

Removal Process

Links from the Secretary of State's website will be reviewed regularly and may be removed for the following reasons:

The link no longer points to the original information or resource to which it was intended to point.
The information pointed to by the link is inaccurate, misleading or otherwise violates the criteria and requirements set forth above in the section entitled "Criteria."
Access to the information has become difficult due to non-standard formatting, lengthy download times, or intrusive advertising.
The link is permanently unreachable or remains unavailable for a lengthy period, especially if we are unable to contact the site manager about the site's status.
Customers of the externally linked site excessively burden the Secretary of State customer support system.

E-Mail Protocol

Without the affirmative consent of an affected individual, the SOS is prohibited from disclosing the e-mail addresses of members of the public who have communicated electronically with it. Personally identifiable information contained in a question or comment sent electronically to the SOS in an e-mail message or submitted in an online form is used by the SOS only to respond to the question or comment. The SOS may redirect any e-mail message to another government agency or person who is in a better position to answer an issue raised in an e-mail.

State Agency Link and Privacy Policy

Agencies, including the Secretary of State, are required to post a link to the State Website Linking and Privacy Policy.

Contact Information

For questions and concerns regarding the linking policy, or to request a link, you may contact our webmaster by telephone at (512) 463-5637 or by e-mail at webmaster@sos.texas.gov.