New Smartphone App Provides Voters With Candidate Information, A Virtual Ballot And Voter Resources

Puzzled at the Polls? Bewildered by the Ballot? There’s An App for That

1myVote app for smartphones lets voters pull up candidate info in polling booth

Tech startup aims to revolutionize the voting process

Madison, WI (MMD Newswire) January 19, 2016 – Tech startup principal Emily Kuhn is leading a revolution in which no shots will be fired. Rather, this revolution will entail firing up 1myVote, a new nonpartisan smartphone app designed to create a more informed and engaged voter, while making things easier on candidates as well.

Available for free in the Apple and Google Play stores – and arriving just in time for the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire Primary – 1myVote provides voters with candidate information, a virtual ballot, and voter resources. Though it doesn’t allow the user to actually cast a ballot – the age of the electronic election is pending, but there are still a few major security issues to be worked out – 1myVote does arm voters with easily accessible data needed to make informed choices at the polls. Think of it as an electronic cheat sheet you can take with you into the polling booth.

Currently 1myVote provides essential information on federal, state, and a few local elections for the 2016 election year, and Ms. Kuhn has plans to expand it considerably in 2018. At present she personally reviews each official candidate website and inputs their top three platform issues. “But we are open to partnering with another service in the future to help automate the process,” she says, adding that 1myVote presents a good opportunity for tech partners and investors.

Originally from Missouri, Ms. Kuhn now lives in Madison, Wisconsin, and her tech start-up currently has four employees. Though she has a background in International Political Economics as well as programming, she has firsthand experience with indecision at the ballot box. In fact she says that she was inspired to design the 1myVote app after standing in the polling booth during the 2014 election, “staring at a bunch of names I didn’t recognize. And worse, I had to select people from these names to represent me.” In that moment, she thought, “There must be a candidate app for this.”

After scanning the app stores and failing to find a good option, she decided to build a candidate app herself. In 2015, the 1myVote team took a survey of men and women, age 18 to 74 and across income levels, to find out their level of interest in a candidate voter app. A whopping 92% of respondents – a significantly higher percentage than the team had expected – said they would use a candidate app to vote in federal, state, and local elections.

Ms. Kuhn says the 1myVote app will benefit both voters and candidates. “It will encourage voters to engage in a debate over issues and to see a variety of candidates in a quick, consistent manner,” she says. She anticipates that voters who choose to transition to using tech for candidate information will opt-in to the political debate when ready, and that over the long term the use of the app will reduce voter fatigue. One hope is that 1myVote will help mobilize the all-important millennial generation, who are more tech-savvy than any other generation but not as politically engaged as they could be.

From the perspective of the candidates, utilizing tech and digital marketing will significantly decrease campaign costs due to less television advertising, less mailers, and fewer yard signs. Ms. Kuhn explains, “The 2016 presidential campaign will cost upwards of $5 billion in advertising, with 20% spent on targeted digital marketing. Since the last presidential campaign, many more Americans have adopted mobile devices as a primary tool for Internet access, but many candidate websites have not migrated to a mobile-friendly platform. In fact, candidates still spend a majority of their marketing budget on television advertising. We feel that candidates are throwing money at an old, familiar media outlet and the impact of their marketing budgets is steadily decreasing. 1myVote could be a real game changer.”

The 1myVote team is continually working to improve the app and make it even more useful and versatile. John Shearer, marketing intern at 1myVote, says, “We are constantly seeking innovative ways of proactively meeting the needs of the voter. For instance, I designed and pitched the ‘My Ballot’ feature to give voters the opportunity to have a summary of the candidates on Election Day, so that they’re not scrambling with the question ‘who am I voting for?’ or ‘who are these candidates?’”

In keeping with their goals of continual improvement and expansion, the 1myVote team welcomes feedback as well as partnership opportunities. “What we hope to do with 1myVote,” says Ms. Kuhn, “is to streamline the democratic process and bring it into the twenty-first century, and most importantly to increase voter engagement in that process. Every vote counts, but every vote should be an informed vote.”

For more information visit www.1myVote.com

Media Contact: 1myVote Emily Kuhn, Chief Design Officer [email protected] 614-551-9792 Twitter: @1myVote

Facebook: www.facebook.com/1myVote

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