PLANNING AND LEADERSHIP FOR A BETTER WORLD
PLANNING AND LEADERSHIP FOR A BETTER WORLD | Table of Contents: |
Given that U.S. President Barack Obama owes much of his 2008 victory to social media and other tech-friendly campaign initiatives, it's not surprising that IT innovation is playing a lead role in this year's hotly contested battles for local, state and federal elections.
This campaign season is somewhat of a litmus test for mobile apps in particular, says Jim Eltringham of the Washington-based Advocacy Group, a firm that specializes in online and social-network tactics for campaigns and corporate public affairs. While the Carly Fiorina campaign has launched an aggressive text-messaging program, a volunteer mobile-based phone bank and a mobile app for student activists, Eltringham says many campaigns aren't yet convinced that mobile efforts are a wise investment. But mobile will be must-have for future campaigns once their effectiveness is proven during this campaign season.
"The best innovations are the ones the public doesn't see—data management run through mobile apps to keep senior campaign staff updated in real time," Eltringham says. "New technology is used to do old tactics quicker. But keep in mind that online activity still means nothing without offline action." That said, here are several tech innovations that are making an impact for this year's elections:
● Democracy unleashed. Microsoft and Democracy Live are offering LiveBallot, which allows U.S. citizens overseas to register for an absentee ballot and securely access the ballot online from any global location, as opposed to needing to rely on the international mail system. Once voters receive their ballot electronically, they can print, sign and return them to their local election official in the same manner as a normal absentee ballot. After mailing their ballot, voters can track their LiveBallot online and monitor when it is received and processed by the county elections office.
Elections officials are using LiveBallot to comply with the MOVE Act, a recently enacted federal law that requires states and territories to develop and implement measures that will make voting more accessible and reliable for citizens living or serving overseas. The law was written to make voting more convenient for soldiers, who often move frequently while stationed overseas.
● Election news junkies get fix. ElectionCaster is a mobile app from Handmark that delivers the latest in political and election news for free, available on Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and WebOS. It uses content from outlets such as top blogs, polling services, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and even localized political coverage from the user's city of choice. Also: CampaignTracker 2010 feeds to iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch users thousands of cross-searchable news articles on political issues at all campaign levels. The product's one-time price is $4.99.
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