Having Trouble Voting In New York? There’s An App For That!
- PollWatchUSA
New York elections maybe hopping on the crowd-sourcing bandwagon, with a new app designed to let voters immediately flag problems (long lines, issues with the machines, etc.) at their polling locations. Given all that recent news about our state’s board of elections being a total disaster, this makes a lot of sense!
“New York is so huge, it’s impossible to recruit enough volunteers to staff polling places where there might be problems,” said Susan Lerner, official from watchdog group Common Cause New York. “This app enables us to crowdsource instead of relying on a limited number of volunteers or a call-in hot line.”
The PollWatchUSA app will have a test run in two primaries tomorrow — the 31st Senatorial District in Upper Manhattan, and the 50th Assembly District, the latter featuring L Magazine favorite Lincoln Restler.
If all goes well, the app will factor into the November elections, and Lerner explained, “We hope it will help empower voters to feel they have a strong voice in making sure elections are run right and to speed the response of addressing problems on Election Day. The long-term goal is that voters can be proactive and not rely solely on political organizations or candidates.”
Sounds like a plan to us. Any chance this app will make it out to Ohio by then?
Follow Virginia K. Smith on Twitter @vksmith.