January 25, 2022

Get an official .gov domain and email address

Switching to a branded email address is something we can help you do! We offer enterprise or business-level email hosting services through Rackspace, so we can host and archive your government email for a reasonable monthly fee. Get in touch to secure a .gov email.

Town Web Answers your Questions: why and how to get a wi.gov or .gov email

Attention Wisconsin clerks! The Wisconsin Elections Commission, or WEC, recommends you get an official email address for your municipality – one that ends in either .wi.gov or .gov.

The WEC shared information at the recent Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Association  (WMCA) convention in Brookfield that Town Web Design LLC attended, and it raised many questions around how to get a .gov email address, we’d like to help answer for you.

What is recommended?

According to the elections commission, all Wisconsin counties and municipalities are encouraged to establish an official email address through a government regulated Domain Name System, or DNS, either .wi.gov or .gov. These domains can only be obtained by US-based government organizations. Let’s unpack how to get a .gov email address, and why it’s important. 

Why is it important?

Election integrity and security are of the utmost importance, according to Dawn Soletski, elections specialist with the WEC. Using unofficial email addresses can be risky and compromise your security.

How can Town Web help?

Town Web started in 2007 to solve the problem of helping clerks post their agendas, meetings and minutes to the web. Since then, we’ve designed websites for hundreds of municipalities and helped many small communities get online. Our team keeps finding new ways to help you achieve your goals and meet your online needs. We now offer best website designs in 2024.

Helping you, our loved community, through the process of how to get a .gov email address, is something we can help you do. We offer email hosting services through Rackspace, so we can host and archive your government email for a reasonable monthly fee. Get in touch to secure a .gov email.

As a Town Web customer, we can add on this service. If you aren’t a current customer, get in touch to find out how we can help you easily get set up with the best website design in 2024 and official, branded email. Call, email or request more information about our web and email services.

Last summer our WI municipalities received a notice from the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) urging all municipalities to obtain a .gov domain for emails. This notice was not a requirement but rather a recommendation as they will begin to limit their email correspondence in 2022 with municipalities that don’t use a .gov email address. However, all WisVote users will eventually be required to have a .gov domain for official email communications.

As you can imagine, several clients have reached out to us regarding this topic. Perhaps municipalities in other states have received a similar notice and nudge to obtain an official government domain and email addresses?

The solution we are recommending is to sign up for a .gov website domain and email addresses. Using a .gov domain for your online services helps the public quickly identify your website as a trusted government source. This is a low-cost and simple way to enhance security for you and your residents. 


Costs:

Currently, there are no fees to register a state or federal .gov domain.

Town Web provides business/enterprise emails and archiving through for a reasonable monthly fee.

Easy steps to sign up for a .gov domain

Start here:

https://get.gov/ 

Town Web services are approved for use with ARPA funds!