Washington state to become first to offer voter
registration on Facebook
July 18th, 2012 06:46 PM ET
Posted by CNN's Justin Lear and Katelyn Petroka
(CNN) – Washington will become the first state to offer
voter registration via Facebook with a new application to be launched as soon
as next week, according to a state election official.
Once online, the app will be accessible on the secretary
of state's Facebook page, said Shane Hamlin, co-director of elections for the
state.
Washington, which has approximately 3.7 million
registered voters, conducts elections entirely by mail and enacted online
registration in 2008. Since online registration started, Hamlin said close to
500,000 voter registrations or address changes have been processed.
Facebook, Washington state and Microsoft have teamed up
to create an app that allows users to register on the social media site through
the state's new "MyVote" app. The effort came about last fall when
Microsoft approached Washington state after Facebook contacted the software
giant with the idea.
When Facebook users download the application, they will
have to agree to allow Facebook to access their information, including name and
date of birth, which is pre-filled into the voter registration form.
Users will still need to enter information from a
driver's license or state ID card number to verify their identities in
real-time through a state database. Once you "like" the app you can
recommend your friends to like it and download it too.
When asked about concerns on whether Facebook will have
access to voters' information, Hamlin reassured voters that "Washington
state is collecting the voter information, not Facebook"
Besides registering to vote on Facebook, Washington
residents will be able to update personal information, access customized voter
guides with candidate info and ballot measures, as well as access replacement
ballots.
When asked about who the state was targeting for this
app, Hamlin said the state didn't create this partnership to only target young
people, but wanted to use Facebook's social media platform for all voters to
access crucial voter/election information.
Washington residents aged 18-29 only accounted for 10% of
voters during the 2008 presidential election according to CNN election results.
President Barack Obama defeated Sen. John McCain 58-41% in Washington state
four years ago.
Announced earlier this month, CNN and Facebook have
partnered to offer an interactive and uniquely social experience for the
upcoming presidential election for CNN's on-air, mobile and online audiences
and Facebook's more than 160 million U.S. users.
The digital election partnership will measure social
buzz, conduct voter surveys and also include the real-time 'I'm Voting' app to
track voter commitments, endorse specific candidates and issues.
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