Posts from Voting

The "net native" generation can be and should be an important political force. These young people grew up with the Internet and they understand how to leverage it in all aspects of their lives. And they understand the importance of protecting the Internet and the concept of Internet Freedom.

But we have to make sure they are registered to vote and that they do indeed go out and vote. That's where The Internet Votes comes in. Over the next week, the folks at Fight For The Future and Personal Democracy Media will be rolling out a series of tools that encourage everyone, but particularly the net natives, to register to vote and then in turn to get out and vote. This effort is non-partisan. There is nothing in this campaign that has anything to do with who you should vote for and why. It's all about voter activation.

The first of these tools, a voter registration widget, is available now (in beta). I am running it on the right sidebar of AVC, under the ad unit. You can get it for your blog here. Please feel free to use it as much as possible so the folks can fix the bugs and get it ready for prime time next week.

As more of these tools launch, I will blog about them, use them, and encourage all of you to do the same. Those who understand the power of the open internet, use it in their lives, and value it as a positive force for society must vote and make their voices heard if they want our elected officials to value these principles as well.

Yesterday my partner Albert and I sat down with the people behind Americans Elect. For those that don't know, Americans Elect is an online third party movement. In their words, "Pick A President, Not A Party."

Here's how it works (in short):

They are going to get on the ballot in all 50 states this fall. They've already gotten on the ballot in many of the states.

They have created a website where anyone can choose to run and where candidates can be drafted. Here's the current roster of candidates.

Over the summer, they will conduct an online convention and a single candidate will be nominated to run on their ticket.

That's basically it.

There are a number of cool things about the online service they have built. You answer questions about issues and they build an online profile of you. Then they match you with candidates that share your views. If you want to try that out, go sign up and you will be taken through the questions in a few minutes. It's fun to see where you end up even if you have no intention of voting for a third party candidate.

I'm sure a lot of people think this is a nutty idea. But I don't. So many people bitch and moan that they don't like our current system. Yet the do nothing to change it. The people behind Americans Elect have done something about it. That's progress.