Back in 2012, we told you all about apps and technology needed to navigate the Republican and Democratic Conventions. Two years later, we find ourselves weeks from the hotly contested 2014 midterm elections – and are seeing new election tech pop up everywhere.
Whether it’s an election information aggregator app (say that five times fast) or a sophisticated prediction tool, there’s no questioning that the election process is on the brink of disruption. And while the voting process itself has a mixed uptake in technology, nearly everything surrounding it has scoffed the days of hanging chads and moved toward modern mechanics.
This begins with candidates and other political figures themselves. From unifying hashtags on Twitter to Facebook groups, Instagram accounts, and more sophisticated websites, candidates across the country are embracing technology and social media like never before.
There too are concerted social media efforts by organizations like Rock the Vote. It recently started promoting #turnoutforwhat with a coinciding video featuring the likes of Lil’ Jon, Lena Dunham, Whoopi Goldberg, Fred Armisen, and others. The organization is also encouraging voters to incorporate #carelikecrazy into any of their midterm election-themed Tweets and posts.
Websites like reddit’s election 2014 page demonstrate that voters are vigorously engaged in debates and community building. Active conversation and access to information about issues and candidates is more democratized than ever.
And apps like Roll Call’s Guide to Midterm Elections for iOS are helping do just that. The app features breaking news about political contests across the country, aggregation of campaign news and campaign Twitter feeds, ratings for every congressional and gubernatorial race, and more.
Then there are online sites dedicated exclusively to elections. While we lost Nate Silver to ESPN, there are a number of places dedicated to polling data and hourly campaign updates. RealClearPolitics is a popular resource with a right-of-center angle, while left-leaning partisans look to the DailyKos Election site.
There is also a newcomer to online election prognostication. Following its success predicting the outcome of World Cup matches earlier this summer, Bing is turning its attention to elections. Not only does it sift through data to project outcomes, Bing Elections provides a survey of news from a range of perspectives, allows users to create a personalized voter guide, and identifies the location of the nearest voting stations. We’ll be keeping an eye on Bing Elections to see if its predictive success prevails yet again.