The latest get-out-the-vote tool is a new app lets Oregonians see if their Facebook friends have voted yet. If they haven't, the app lets the user badger them until they do.
The app is called Did They Vote. It mines your friends' Facebook data and cross-references that with public lists of who's turned in a ballot so far. If the app finds that some of your friends haven't voted, it lets you send them a message urging them to get on with it.
Sarah Duff is a volunteer with the campaign to legalize recreational marijuana in Oregon. She has messaged more than a dozen of her Facebook friends.
"I've actually had a really positive reaction,” Duff said. “There's so many of them that hadn't voted that were probably going to forget, some of them said, and they were appreciative that I was able to reach out to them like that."
The app so far only works for Oregon voters. It was developed by a coalition of left-leaning political groups. But the app can't tell how anyone voted, as the Did They Vote website takes pains to point out.
Copyright 2014 Northwest News Network
