Provide members with election info via a voting app
Submitted by vicki.thompson on Fri, 07/08/2016 - 15:20
Type of Pilot Project:
Public Service
Describe Project and Impact:
Partner with other organizations, potentially ThinkVoting's The Voting App, to provide an app that aggregates info on elections, such as sample ballots, upcomming local elections, where to register to vote,etc to inform members
Project Description and Expected Outcomes:
With such low voter turnout, especially among young people, we could be the source of information and inspiration to motivate citizens to vote.It is difficult to traverse government websites to find information on upcoming elections and candidates. I've heard countless peers express how confused they were when there was a list of judges on the ballot during the presidential election, which they either left blank, or worse, selected candidates at random. To go further, I've discussed the difficulty, with other young people, of finding unbiased information on local candidates prior to elections. Many young people are often unaware of local elections, much less the information covered in them. An app that could alert members to upcoming elections and provide them with information on what measures, issues, or candidates will be presented would encourage members to stay informed and vote. We would be an unbiased source of information and could help guide members to other sources of information. We would be educating our members and facilitating their access to local information, and inspiring critical thinking.
Why should we select this project?:
We could help fulfill our mission of growing smarter communities one person at a time by building informed voters and motivating citizens to get out and vote. Encouraging our library members to vote, might also inspire them to take a more active role in local government and hopefully spread their appreciation for the library to local legislators. Furthermore, libraries could do more to provide information on a local level. Lastly, this app would likely appeal to members in the 18-30 age range who would appreciate the existence of the app, who would then progress to accessing other library services. The app would also encourage citizens to do research before voting, which would uphold our goals of being an educational institution.
Constraints, Limitations, or Dependencies:
Ideally we would partner with another organization that would build the app, for example The Voting App. We would need to identify sources of election information to populate the app with. We would then have to make sure the information stays up to date. Examples would be, links to the government’s website that lists instructions for registering to vote, sample ballots, upcoming elections, etc. We could also identify other sources of information that we provide and determine how our materials could be included in the app. Ideally this would be automated once the source was identified. We could partner with local government agencies, ex. Oklahoma State Election Board, to ensure that the source will remain in the same format.
We would need to ensure that any partnerships we make are with unbiased organizations. We wouldn’t want to sign on with an organization that pushes for one party or candidate. We would also have to be very cautious in what sources of information we contribute, we wouldn't want to upset one candidate because we provided better information on another.
Source of Inspiration:
I am not aware of any libraries that have a voting app, but some provide election information on their websites. For example, the Houston Public Library, Hartford Public Library, NYPL. ThinkVoting’s The Voting App is the only app I can find that compiles election information. Let me know if you have heard of any others!
Partner/Supporting Departments:
Digital Library
Outreach
Performance Indicators:
Market Penetration
Member Retention
Environment:
Extra-Library
Relationship:
Build
Experience:
InterReach
Cluster:
Occasionals
Inactives
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