In the last five Presidential elections turnout has not topped 59%.
It is even lower during Congressional elections with the 2014 election turnout hitting just 36.4%, the lowest turnout in 70 years.
Now, in partnership with private sector businesses and universities Democracy Works has launched the TurboVote Challenge, an effort to get 80 percent voter turnout by 2020.
Democracy Works is a nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the idea that voting should fit the way we live. They are a team of software developers, public policy wonks, and civic organizers working together to build the tools a modern democracy needs.
First launched in 2010, TurboVote is an online tool that eliminates the most common barriers to voting.
They are constantly innovating to find ways to help make voting easier.
Providing Information
Challenge partners are using their regular communications: social media, marketing lists, websites and more to share information about elections and voting with staff and customers.
Registering Voters
These companies are registering voters, whether through state online voter registration sites, the TurboVote tool, or old-fashioned paper.
Engaging Media
Challenge partners are using their public stature to promote civic engagement, and highlighting their efforts.
Making It Fun
There’s nothing like a holiday for democracy! Partners organize an annual civics campaign, usually around National Voter Registration Day, to maximize attention.
Building Community
Making it personal, the Challenge participants involve themselves and their staffs in the democratic process as poll workers, volunteers, and active participants in their local communities.
Ballot Scout
36 states currently allow voters to cast their ballots by mail without an absentee excuse, giving voters the ability to research and complete their ballots in the comfort of their own homes. Many local election offices, however, lack the technological capability to track ballots through the postal system, where ballots are sometimes lost or delayed.
One study of the 2012 elections estimated that as many as 3.9 million ballots requested never reached voters and another 2.9 million ballots received by voters did not make it back to election officials.
Ballot Scout returns confidence to the system, making voting by mail a seamless and reliable service. Ballot Scout helps election offices to add USPS Intelligent Mail barcodes to absentee ballot envelopes, which allows administrators and voters to track every ballot with the same ease as a FedEx package. Designed in collaboration with election offices from across the country, Ballot Scout offers an inexpensive, customizable solution which easily integrates into any existing process. Transitioning to Ballot Scout brings transparency and accountability to the vote-by-mail process.
CLICK HERE for more information about TurboVote.
CLICK HERE for more information about Ballot Scout.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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