mobileVoting: Bring the Ballot Box to You
What if we could bring the ballot box to the voter with a mobile polling station to reach communities that have limited mobility or historically have less access to the polls?
Profile
I am passionate about: education, learning, tech tools, working in low-resource and conflict-affected environments
A little known fact about me is: Often, I'd rather be gardening, sunbathing, or white-water rafting
Show my name on the attendees list for events I am attending: Yes
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/profile/public-profile-settings?trk=prof-edit-edit-public_profile
PhD Candidate
Pennsylvania State University
"Life is hard by the yard but by the inch it's a cinch"
I hold a Bachelors of Arts in Anthropology from Case Western Reserve University and a Masters of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies focusing on conflict resolution, human rights law and anthropology from American University. Currently, I am pursuing a PhD in Adult Education with specific research interests on conflict affected populations. I have taught at the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul and worked in distance and e-learning at Makerere University's Infectious Disease Institute in Kampala, Uganda and American University in Washington, DC.
Research
13pt
Idea
15pt
Evaluation
0pt
Collaboration
59pt
Total
87pt
What if we could bring the ballot box to the voter with a mobile polling station to reach communities that have limited mobility or historically have less access to the polls?
Thanks Paul for your feedback! I would love to hear more about your perspective on the Australian system since my outsider perspective is a bit limited.
In response to your questions, the work I did in voter registration was government funded as a 501c3 (the non profit tax code in the states) but the organization I worked for was distinctly not governmental to remain non partisan.
I actually was paid a small amount, nothing extraordinary but a small stipend, as it was a full time job. However, most voter registration staff are volunteers and there are many people willing to do the work paid or unpaid. While I think individuals should be recompensed for their work, there is something to be said for the value of a volunteer to build community and foster support among disenfranchised communities.
In terms of door-to-door work, I did go door to door but that work was more of community organizing than voter registration. As community organizing can become politically motivated very easily, we did not do voter registration during those visits. However, the most productive door to door work for voter registration is in apartment buildings or other high density housing complexes (though I didn't directly work in those spaces). You're absolutely right though that door-to-door work is the best way to identify the homebound, and while we separated voter registration from organizing, the field notes from those organizing visits were valuable sources of information regarding reaching the home bound and connecting those who needed services with services provided in their community.
Hi Macy, one more thought off of these comments is the value of public recognition of a job well done. Youth (and people in general) love recognition and approval from peers so if there's a way of incentive-izing youth participants through recognition and support from a peer network, sort of like your school "currency" mentioned above, that could be a motivator outside of the small amount of money. This recognition could occur in schools or community centers and your pilot at your school might be able to show where youth would most appreciate recognition for their service.
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