Wellstone Action!

posted by Ross Wallen

NOVEMBER 03, 2008

Depending on your perspective, technology may seem a simplifier of your life, a clutter-er of your days or perhaps a mixture of both. No matter where you come down on the issue, technology offers ample opportunity to connect, communicate, and share information. This is particularly important during national calls to action - utilizing technology to organize a grassroots effort (politically or otherwise) has changed the game from years past.

In this post, we will explore the different ways that technology is changing how voters and citizens interact with voting and the electoral process.

Election Websites -

In an earlier post we looked at websites that focused on election protection. This is a more comprehensive list with brief explanations of what the websites' missions are.

1. Early Voting Stats from a Professor At George Mason University
2. Poll closing times and a table of key House, Senate and Gubernatorial races
3. Huffington Posts' latest polls and polling trends in key states and 538's poll wonderland
4. Don't know where your polling place is located? Check @ http://govote.org Vote 411 or Google. Google has a mobile site up for those on the go.

Monitor or Report Voting Issues-

1. Twitter Vote Report - Real time log of reports posted with hash tag of #votereport on Twitter. (A guide if you want/need to participate is here.)
2. Our Vote Live - Real time tracking of reported problems through the Election Protection Wiki and 1-866-our-vote
3. The Voter Suppression Wiki
4. Comprehensive list of grassroots election protection efforts
5. YouTube and PBS teaming up for Video your Vote*

*(Most states do allow you to film at your polling place. However, there are some states that expressly prohibit videotaping and others that have strict rules about how close you can tape near a polling place. For the most up-to-date information on your area, visit http://www.citmedialaw.org/...)

Text Messaging -

Using your cell phone or other mobile device to send a text message to another. Quick, simple and effective; A study has shown that Election Day texting increased youth turnout by 4.6%

1. TXT Out the Vote - Sending a text message to a friend is the one of the easiest and most effective ways to get out the vote. Use this free tool to create SMS messages for your friends and family. We'll send the messages for you on Election Day
2. A blog post at Culture Kitchen, Five ways to guerrilla broadcasting with your cell phone, detailing ways to monitor the election and broadcast on the go.
3. If you are out in the field canvassing or doing GOTV then this is an awesome tool brought to the masses by Credo Mobile and the New Organizing Institute, who are now providing polling place locations via txt message.

"Text pp then your street address and zip to 69866 (eg: pp 101 market st 94105) Our system will respond with the appropriate polling place for your address or the number for the Election Protection Coalition if we can't find a match. Please feel free to promote this service any way you like and share it with people looking lost on Election Day."

Go be a citizen, organize and vote. Happy election everyone.