Register to vote through Facebook? Washington reveals new app.
As soon as next week, Facebook users in Washington state may register to vote through an app developed by Microsoft. The initiative could mobilize young voters.
Facebook has been developing the Washington state registration voter app since last fall, sources say.
Associated Press
In an effort to convince more residents to complete their voter registration online, Washington state has partnered with Facebook to develop a voting registration app for the social network.
The upcoming app 鈥� designed by Microsoft 鈥� is the first of its kind. Expected to launch as soon as next week, it will 鈥減ut a screen from the official state website into a user鈥檚 Facebook page, and鈥utomatically add some of the information already in a Facebook profile, including name and date of birth,鈥� according to . Users will still need to enter personal information, such as a driver鈥檚 license or state ID card number, to verify their identities.聽
Ideally, this partnership would make it easier for residents to register, especially considering Facebook鈥檚 popularity, Washington鈥檚 co-director of elections Shane Hamlin told the Associated Press.
鈥淚n this age of social media and more people going online for services, this is a natural way to introduce people to online registration and leverage the power of friends on Facebook to get more people registered,鈥� he .
Hamlin said Facebook won鈥檛 collect voters鈥� personal information, but that users will have to give the site permission to use their full names and birth dates.聽
So far in 2012, about one-third of Washington鈥檚 voters completed their registrations online, not counting those filled out at the state鈥檚 motor vehicle department, the National Journal , and 62 percent of online registrants are under 34, according to 2010 and 2011 data. If the MyVote app proves successful, Washington 鈥� and other states that may follow suit 鈥� will most likely bring in even more young voters.聽
鈥淵oung voters鈥� if trends hold, are likely to vote for a Democratic candidate,鈥� VentureBeat鈥檚 Ricardo Bilton . 鈥淭hat鈥檚 good news for the state鈥檚 Democrats, but not current Washington Governor Christine Gregorie: The two-term governor is not running for reelection this year.鈥澛�
Rock the Vote president Heather Smith says 50,000 new Washington voters are expected to register with the help of this new app and Rock the Vote鈥檚 own Facebook app, which connects online educational services with the Washington voter registration system, the Journal says. The Rock the Vote app was released Friday.
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