PRESS
RELEASE from Personal Democracy Media
CONTACT: Jennifer Vento
646-837-6798
jen@personaldemocracy.com
The
Internet
Public Mobilizes to Register Voters
Reddit,
Mozilla,
Fark.com,
BoingBoing and many others join Fight for the Future
and Personal Democracy Media in support of Internet Voter Registration
Day
September 25th, 2012, New York, NY -- Fight for the Future and Personal
Democracy Media, with the support of the Ford Foundation and State
Infrastructure Fund, have launched "
The Internet Votes,"
a non-partisan initiative that is using social media and open data to
increase voter registration and turnout among the constituency that
many people have started calling "the Internet public." Building
on
the successful mobilization of the tech community against SOPA and PIPA
last winter, they are using social media to increase voter registration
and turnout this November to show that the
#internetvotes.
Among
the organizations joining this effort are Reddit, the Electronic
Frontier Foundation, FreePress, BoingBoing, Craigconnects.org, Imgur,
Mozilla, Cheezburger, CEA Network, Fark, New America, Grooveshark,
Democrats.com, TechDirt, Roosevelt Institute Campus Network, NY Tech
Meetup, Advomatic, Engine Advocacy, and Democratic Leadership for the
21st Century. Collectively, they reach more than 20 million web users
on a daily basis.
Using a web and Facebook app called “VoteWithFriends,” these
organizations, as well as many other tech
companies, start-ups, advocacy groups, blogs, and individuals are
reaching out to engage users into the electoral process by registering
them to vote. “Registering to vote should be as simple as watching a
kitten look for its tail,” said co-founder, Tiffiniy Cheng. “By working
with websites across the country, Internet users will be able to
register to vote today as they surf the web without having to search
for a form.”
The
Internet Votes is aiming to get a million pledges to vote spreading
through social media in advance of Election Day, to demonstrate that
the Internet Public has a voice and is committed to making it heard
this election.
“Over
the last several years, a new networked constituency has formed which
believes in the power of Internet as a force for economic, social, and
political change,” said co-founder, Andrew Rasiej. “‘The Internet
Votes’ is designed to show that this new networked citizenry can have a
voice in our national elections that will not only impact the results,
but which will continue to engage in the political process long after
the election is over.”
This
initiative builds on recent research showing that online reminders and
social signals--such as seeing that one’s friends are pledging to vote
on Facebook--can significantly increase actual voting behavior. The
Internet Votes is encouraging people to sign up via its “Vote With
Friends” app on Facebook, which will help people make sure they are
registered, enable them to pledge to vote and share that information
with their friends.
###
About Fight for the Future
Fight
for the Future, along with its sister 501c3 nonprofit Center for
Rights, works to activate the internet for the public good and to
defend our basic rights in the digital age. It recently helped to
organize the SOPA / PIPA online protests in early 2012.
About Personal Democracy Media
Personal
Democracy Media is an independent media company focused on the
intersection of politics and technology, that has produced the annual
Personal Democracy Forum conference since 2004 and publishes the
award-winning news site, techPresident.com.