9 Voting Apps That Make Voting in the 2018 Midterms Easier
In case you deleted your Twitter in a fit of rage or have been under a rock, we have a PSA: the 2018 midterm elections are a really, really big deal. As is par for the course, tech nonprofits have been rising up to provide the public with critical tools to make democracy more accessible. Be it voting apps to find out where to go on election day or a digital voter guide, we break down the top tech nonprofit voting apps that will make it easier to cast your vote in the 2018 midterms.
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Know these Before the 11/6 Midterms
TurboVote One goal: helping you vote.
TurboVote has helped over 3 million users vote. If your not one of them, you’re missing out. The platform equips voters with everything they need to show up to the polls with confidence. Text and email reminders keep users in the loop, from election reminders on the local, state, and national level, to info on applying for an absentee ballot.
If you’re not sold on TurboVote yet, this tech nonprofit also builds tools for election officials. This ensures that cutting-edge technology and practices are being applied towards a more effective democratic process. Make Voting Easy >
TurboVote screenshots | Photo credit: TurboVote
We Vote Your personalized digital voter guide.
Ballots are long and confusing. Vague language is often used to describe measures and candidates, which makes understanding what they’ll actually do a struggle. Enter We Vote, the national, digital ballot guide that sources endorsements from organizations and individuals you trust.
We Vote then aggregates your network’s recommendations to form an “Issue Score” for each measure and candidate on your ballot. The result? A simple way to vote with your values. We love using We Vote via the web app because it’s lightning fast, but We Vote also has iOS and Android apps. Bring It To The Polls >
Vote.org Eliminating baseline barriers to voting.
Vote.org’s goal? To use tech to increase voter turnout and thereby strengthen American democracy. To achieve those ends, Vote.org uses two strategies. First, they’ve built a suite of tools for voters to make the voting process simpler. These include a voter registration tool, an absentee ballot tool, and a verification tool to verify your voter registration status.
Vote.org also focuses on getting unlikely voters to the polls. This means reaching potential voters via one-to-one SMS, digital ads, ads on streaming services, and even billboards. According to their site, “Whenever possible, we run controlled experiments, so that we can determine whether our interventions worked.” Turning Non-Voters Into Voters >
IssueVoter Tell your reps how you feel in 1 click.
Thousands of bills pass every year, but how many do we actually know about? IssueVoter takes the legwork out of understanding bills and engaging with your representative on the issues you care about. Sign up and you’ll receive email alerts on the issues you care about, and be notified when your rep votes (or doesn’t vote) with your values.
Need us to sweeten the deal? IssueVoter empowers you to let your rep know how you want them to vote on bills with one click (no snail mail necessary). Voting doesn’t always have to be based on party lines. Whether you care about civil rights, gun laws, or national security, this platform makes sure you’re engaged 2.0. Digital Democracy >
IssueVoter Screenshot | Photo credit: IssueVoter
Vote.Foundation A legislation cheat sheet.
With Vote.Foundation, you’ll have access to a simplified version of legislation. It’s nonpartisan: no frills, just data. In addition to a bill summary, you can support or oppose each bill to see how closely your federal rep represents your values based on that bill. Vote.Foundation call this your “Representation Score.” Represent Me >
Stay Civically Engaged Post Election With These Apps
Our civic duties don’t end November 7th! Here are the tech nonprofits building voting apps, tools, and resources to keep you informed and engaged year round.
Document Hate project Record hate post-election.
To combat post-election hate speech and violence, Ushahidi built the Document Hate project tool so U.S. citizens can report post-election violence, harassment, hate speech, and protests. Any citizen can sign up to receive alerts when a report is filed in their neighborhood. Ushahidi’s goal is to increase safety in communities post-election. Combat Hate >
Document Hate Project Screenshot | Photo credit: Ushahidi
What The District?! Data viz for democracy.
Up until a few months ago, the ACLU might not have been dubbed a tech nonprofit. But today, that’s changed with their new political data visualization tool – What the District?!. The tool provides a visual history of how congressional district lines have been drawn over the last 50 or so years. Knowledge Is Power >
What The District?! Screenshot | Photo credit: ACLU
Our Society A platform for every candidate.
Up and coming tech nonprofit Our Society gives every candidate a voice – not just the two with the most money. Plus, Our Society focuses on issues, rather than party. The result? It empowers more people to run for office on a local, state, and national level. Money doesn’t have to be the only way to get the message out. The platform >
USA Facts Non-partisan government facts.
Yep, it’s as simple as that. USA Facts is a self-identified data-driven portrait of America. The platform pulls together public data to make it easy to learn everything you ever wanted to know about the U.S. government’s finances,impact on society, and more. Fun fact we learned: there are over 3.5 Million K-12 teachers in the US! More Data Please >
USA Facts Screenshot | Photo credit: USA Facts
Voting doesn’t have to be confusing. Thanks to these voting apps, walking into the polls with confidence, as well as staying engaged after the election, has never been easier!