We’re only few days away from Election Day on November 6th, the day that will determine the fate of our country over the next four years. It’s your right to vote and you don’t want to miss out on such an impactful event.
STORY: Vote Or Die! Sandy Can’t Hold Us Back On November 6th!
To some, especially first time voters, the electoral system can come off as intimidating and sifting through loads of information about candidates can be overwhelming. But fear not! To make this process as easy as possible, the folks at the League of Young Voters have composed a list of easy-to-use online tools for young, tech savvy voters. Check out the list below to receive digestible bites of news and information on voting and the election.
The 10 Best Online Tools for Millennial Voters
TheBallot.org (League of Young Voters):
The interactive, one-stop shop for voter information, includes local sample ballots, educational information on all electoral races/candidates/measures, customizable voter guides, shareable social-network badges and polling location lookup. TheBallot.org is powered by technology from several sources, including Google’s new Voter Information Tool.
Voting System Scorecard (Rock the Vote):
Rock the Vote’s Voting System Scorecard serves as a national benchmark that measures state laws and policies in three key areas: voter registration, casting a ballot and young voter preparation. A 21-point scale evaluates each state’s implementation of policies that increase access to the political process, including: automatic registration, permanent and portable registration, same-day registration, online registration, early voting periods, identification requirements, residency requirements, absentee voting, military and overseas voting, and high school civics curricula and evaluation.
Vote with Friends (Fight for the Future):
The Facebook app by Internet advocacy organization Fight for the Future, allows anyone to turn their Facebook page into their own get-out-the-vote operation. Users can see if their friends’ are registered, ask them to pledge to vote, mobilize them into voting blocks and check to see which of your friends actually voted on Election Day.
The Campus Vote Project, which launched this year, helps connect college students with administrators and local election officials to simplify the voting process. The program helps students overcome barriers they often face when voting, such as residency laws, registration deadlines and strict voter ID requirements. The organization also offers an excellent online toolkit to help campuses organize, activate and reach their election and voter engagement goals.
NationBuilder, the world’s first community organizing system, is an accessible, affordable, complete software platform that helps leaders grow and organize communities to achieve their goals. The system offers state and local-level campaigns, of any political persuasion, access to top-notch web design and campaign organizing tools.
Polling Place Lookup (League of Young Voters):
By texting VOTE to 69866, voters can quickly check their polling location for their home address. The tool is powered by Mobile Commons and Google’s Voter Information Tool. Mobile Commons also recently developed technology to donate money via SMS for organizations like the Red Cross.
Facebook and CNN partnered this election season to launch the “I’m Voting” app — an interactive and uniquely social tool that will make it even easier for the people who use Facebook to make their voices heard this election cycle. The app allows users to make a commitment to vote, choose the candidates and issues that matter most to them, and share that position with friends. CNN is also drawing on data collected from the app to glean insights into the major issues of this year’s election.
Voter ID Requirements Map (HeadCount):
Leading up to this year’s election, battles have been waged in several states over voter ID laws. Non-partisan organization HeadCount created an interactive, user-friendly map showing what each state requires voters to bring with them to the polls. Simply click on your state for additional information, including ID requirements, registration deadlines and candidate information.
TurboVote makes the voting process as easy as renting a DVD from Netflix. All users have to do is sign up and TurboVote will keep track of rules and deadlines, and send all necessary forms so that all users have to do is sign and mail them.
Salsa is a single, fully-integrated, online platform that helps nonprofits & political campaigns of all sizes to fundraise, advocate, communicate and organize anytime, anywhere. The Salsa platform is customizable to meet unique campaign needs.
We’ll see you at the polls on November 6!
