Facebook makes it easier to cast votes in the U.S.

Citizens of the State of Washington may register on Facebook to vote for the November elections. State authorities in collaboration with the social network and Microsoft have introduced a method to participate in the upcoming elections.

"We just want more people to vote. And one way to make that possible is to seek help from using the power of social networks and platforms." said Shane Hamlin, co-director of the State Election Commission.

Washington is a pioneer in using technology in their civic policies. In 2008, they became one of the first two states which had offered the option of registering on the electoral roll via the Internet.

Since then, twelve others state have followed them. Washington took time to create the portal for My Vote, where people can update their address or for any queries regarding the election: the candidates whose names found in the
ballot, where to mail it to implement the voting or voter registration process.

And on that same page, they also have access to registration over the Internet, connected with the Election Commission of the State of Washington.

Hamlin says that Facebook can become the perfect partner to help distribute information about the possibility to register via the Internet. Every time someone clicks on the "Like" on page My Vote social network page, all their
followers might see an update with the data.

According to Hamlin, Facebook sought a state-wide organization with which associated in these elections and to allow voter registration through its platform. About the same time that state officials thought this option, Facebook
raised the system to Microsoft and, once agreed, began their collaboration with Washington. The computer company created the system for free and after a testing period, will be released in the coming days.

"We were the first state to have a platform like MyVote and have always had a good relationship with Microsoft. They know that we are innovative and that we have built a reputation in the use of technology to improve citizen services."
says Hamlin, recognizing the importance that the company has its headquarters in the same state, in Seattle.

Facebook users who want to register as voters in Washington State may do so through the social network, although all information exchanged with the system will be filed by election officials, not by Facebook.

Once the user has shared his name and date of birth-data already available to the social network, the registration process is the same as was put into operation in 2008. The system sends the information provided to the State electoral
roll to check for previous records, from there, the citizen can verify a prior registration, change management, correct a name, or create a new one.

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Posted by Farasat Ali on Aug 1 2012. Filed under Sci-Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry