Office of the Secretary of State Web Site Link Policy
The purpose of our web site is to provide information that is helpful, easy to find and use. To achieve this purpose, links to and from our web site 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 www.sos.state.tx.us web site.
Fees or Commissions Not Authorized
This agency does not accept fees or commissions of any kind for links or "hits" from or to our web site.
Links from the Secretary of State's Website
This section outlines the criteria and requirements that external web sites must meet to have a link from www.sos.state.tx.us. It also details how links are accepted and removed from www.sos.state.tx.us.
All links from our web site must contain information that is relevant and related to our mission. The mission of the Office of the Secretary of State is to provide a secure and accessible repository for public, business, and commercial records and to receive, compile, and provide information. In addition, our mission is to ensure the proper conduct of elections, to authorize the creation and registration of business entities, and to publish state government rules and notices. Our office serves as liaison to the Governor on Texas-Mexico border issues. The Secretary of State also serves as Chief International Protocol Officer for the State.
Criteria
The Secretary of State will only link to two kinds of providers of commercial products or services:
- notary public training schools, and
- USS EDI training partners
We will offer an opportunity to any vendor of the same type of product or service to be linked on our web site at the same location. If you believe that your product or service falls under one of the two categories above and you wish to be linked from our web site, please contact our webmaster.
Except as outlined below, links to a web site are not permitted if the organization or entity sponsoring the web site has a political agenda or supports a particular candidate. This office will not promote legislation, candidates or political parties on its web site. 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.
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.
Removal Process
Links from www.sos.state.tx.us 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.
- The external web site fails to comply with the written linking agreement, if any.
- Customers of the externally linked site excessively burden the www.sos.state.tx.us customer support system.
Links to the Secretary of State's Web Site
It is not technologically feasible to restrict links to our web site. Furthermore, since our site contains information which we want the public to know, we do not discourage links to our web site. If you have come to our web site from a link, no endorsement, recommendation or relationship of any kind should be implied.
Advance permission to link to www.sos.state.tx.us is not necessary. However, be aware that Secretary of State subpages may change at any time without notice. Entities and individuals linking to the Secretary of State’s web site must continuously verify links to our subpages. Entities and individuals linking to www.sos.state.tx.us shall not capture www.sos.state.tx.us pages within frames, present www.sos.state.tx.us content as its own, or otherwise misrepresent www.sos.state.tx.us content or misinform users about the origin or ownership of www.sos.state.tx.us content. Any link to the www.sos.state.tx.us site should be a full forward link that passes the client browser to www.sos.state.tx.us unencumbered. The back button should return the visitor to the site of the entity that created the link.
Contact Information
For questions and concerns regarding the linking policy, or to request a link, you may contact our webmaster by telephone at (512) 463-5626 or by e-mail at webmaster@sos.state.tx.us.