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Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Here's How Local Techies Can Help Voters in the June 3 Election

Posted By on Wed, Mar 19, 2014 at 10:28 AM

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The California Primary Election is approaching on June 3, but do you know where your polling location is and what measures will be on the ballot? We didn't think so.

Rest assured that you're not the only one who is clueless about your civic duty. In 2008, the Pew Charitable Trusts and Nielsen Norman Group released a study called "Being Online is not enough" which revealed that 120 million people searched for answers to questions about the general election, including how to register to vote and who was running for mayor.

Why do they do this, you ask? Probably because there's not a comprehensive database online that disseminates information about Election Day.

Enter the techies of Silicon Valley who are hoping to make voting so much easier on you.

The weekend of March 28, techies are invited to a weekend-long hackathon where they'll create apps meant to streamline the American voting process.

The Voting Information Project (VIP), which is hosting the hackathon, is asking designers and programmers to create web and mobile apps using California Primary data. VIP aggregates voting information onto one user-friendly platform such as Facebook or Google. For example, VIP partnered with AT&T and Politics360 to create an app that hosts sample ballots, voter registration, and polling locations.

The apps will be judged later that weekend and the winners will receive much praise, exposure, and prizes to be determined.

Soon enough, citizens will be able to cast their vote via their Google Glass. Unless of course, part of their civic duty includes hanging out at these San Francisco bars.

You can register for the hackathon here.

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About The Author

Melissa Hellmann

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