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Comment by jkonowitch | Hacker News Reader

Any thoughts on what could be built out/on top of this application?

The Obama campaign in 2012 had a smartphone/tablet app that they used in the early days of the re-election campaign to register voters as part of their first canvassing passes. Being open-source software, any person or organization that wants to help increase voter turnout could modify it to suit their specific needs - maybe they rely on older voters, so they want to make a more high-contrast version, or they need to translate the app for their voting bloc.

You could also work to make an API out of the state data (it's a a ton of work to aggregate all that), or work to make the site an offline application so that voter registration forms can be created, saved, and later emailed, or even printed and snail mailed to voters. The biggest obstacle with voter registration in the US is that you have to physically mail a sheet of paper. I'd be willing to bet that few unregistered voters probably also have a printer, stamps, and an envelope all ready to go.

Now, one caveat to all this is of course that I'm not sure how much of it is completely kosher. There are lots of regulations on this stuff, obviously.

Great ideas. I hadn't thought at all about modifications to the UI - ie focusing on accessibility concerns for older voters, or supporting multiple languages.

Another possibility: feature that lets people "pledge" to vote by entering their email address. This could be useful to canvassers on the ground trying to catch busy people passing by without the time to fill out a form at that moment. The app could then email the voter to follow up, as well as alert them when their state's deadline is drawing near.

A web form that outputs a fully filled out PDF. This could definitely have many uses in both business and government.

Maybe the RNC could repurpose it as a voter suppression app?

While this is a partisan comment, it highlights the political reason why the DNC pursues registration drives. It stands to benefit from doing so. Voters in demographics more likely to support the Democrats are less likely to register and less likely to be engaged.

It should be pointed out that the various organs of both the Democratic and Republican party both run voter registration drives, as do a number of other groups (with varying degrees of affiliation with official parties).

It's not surprising that each group targets demographics which seek to further their aims.

Despite that, registering more voters is categorically a good thing. We as a society require an informed and engaged electorate. Registering to vote is part of that engagement.

That's only because the GOP have decided not to cater to the vast majority and instead are held hostage by their tea partiers/religious right/corporatists.

Democrats have their share of right-wingedness, but also cater to marriage equality folk, minorities and progressives.

When Republicans give up on 47% of the electorate, it's a clear sign that, for them, voter suppression is more effective than registration.

I know you think you're being funny but all you're doing is displaying your ignorance for everyone to see.

Do enlighten.

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