Information on when and where to vote improves voter turnout, but often hard to find. Organizers crowdsource early voting and dropbox locations and freely share them through maps and mobile apps.
Collecting information from multiple sources provided in different formats is challenging. But many hands make light work. That's the premise of crowdsourcing which uses large teams of workers and volunteers to break down large jobs into smaller manageable tasks. Volunteers collect information from county election sites and other sources. This information is collected in a database to make it easy to share through maps and apps.
Map My Vote
MapMyVote provides clear, concise maps of ballot drop-off locations, providing voters with an easy and effective way to return their ballots, without relying on USPS or endangering their health. Embeddable maps are available at no cost to government offices, get-out-the-vote groups and advocacy organizations, to make it easy for voters to hand-deliver their ballots.
MapMyVote maps can be provided on websites and directly to individual voters through text, email and social media communications. The database of MapMyVote map location information and map hyperlink content is likewise available for free. DemLabs collaborates with Map My Vote to (pro bono) provide a mobile app of early voting locations and drop boxes using Glide Apps (a free platform) and a series of interactive map using ArcGIS Online.
Mobile App of early voting locations
Glide Apps is a free versatile tool to create mobile apps. The information displayed is obtained from a Google Sheet which can be updated with new voting locations as they are collected by crowdsourcing. This mobile app was designed (pro bono) by DemLabs to let users find:
- information about early voting and drop box locations
- driving instructions to these locations
- details on valid forms of voter ID, how to request an absentee ballot, how to be come a poll worker and more
- details on how to report instances of voter suppression with See Something, Say Something
- information by searching by state, county or an address using bookmarks
What is a map bookmark? ArcGIS Online bookmarks provide shortcuts to interesting places on a map such as a state, county, city, tract or building.
Mapping Early Voting and Drop Box Locations
Early Voting & Drop Box location maps
Arizona
Florida
Iowa
Michigan
North Carolina
Wisconsin
Takeaway: Have volunteers collect voting related information with crowdsourcing. Share it broadly through maps, mobile apps and partners to make it easier for voters to get it in the form that works best for them.
Deepak
DemLabs
Image credit: Noun Project