PollWatchUSA in NYC: Smart Phone Crowd Sourcing Tool for Election Day

Tech Solution to help voters report problems at the polls

NEW YORK, NY (09/09/2014)(readMedia)-- This Election Day Common Cause/NY is urging voters to use PollWatchUSA to report problems at the polls.

PollWatch is a cross-platform mobile web application to help New Yorkers across the city report problems at the polls on Election Day. PollWatchUSA is a crowd-sourcing tool, which allows anyone with a smart phone to act as a poll monitor.

"Election Day is often hampered by inefficiency and confusion, leaving voters with little recourse. PollWatchUSA was conceived to help voters report problems in real time, by putting the tool in the palm of their hands. Through crowd sourcing, Common Cause/NY collects a broad data set to better identify the issues and help create a more effective elections administration system," said Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause/NY.

PollWatchUSA can be accessed via smart phone by going to www.pollwatch.us. Voters click "Report a Problem" and fill out an easy set of multiple-choice questions to identify the issue. Once submitted, the form will be reviewed by election protection workers at Common Cause/NY, who will then relay the information to the national Election Protection effort and, if necessary, the local Board of Elections. Simultaneously, the location of the report will be mapped onto the PollWatchUSA website accessible at pollwatchusa.org. All reports received will be later reviewed to determine trends and further action.

Although PollWatchUSA is not designed to offer a response, a user can elect to register contact information for any necessary follow up.

Background

PollWatchUSA was conceived at a 2012 Hackathon presented by the Personal Democracy Forum where it won first prize and $1,000. Together, the PollWatch team, comprised of Reboot, WebSava, and Common Cause/NY, with input from TurboVote, began meeting regularly to fully develop the mobile website for use on Election Day. The project received critical support from the Voter Information Project and Latino Justice.

Reboot is a service design firm. Reboot uses ethnographic approaches to help leading institutions develop solutions that improve lives and livelihoods.

Websava is a web and mobile development consultancy based in New York, and operated by Volkan Unsal.