Improving the Millennial Vote with The Politicking App
January 28, 2019
Being a millennial of color, I have this intrinsic motivation to use my voice and my vote. But politics can be confusing as hell. From candidate rhetoric and propaganda to proposed legislation, that shit can be hard to filter through. This confusion spans from local elections to national elections. Let me not forget to mention the barriers and misinformation placed in the way of marginalized groups of voters.
Pew Research says that millennials are the largest living generation. Yet, we had the lowest turnout for the 2016 presidential election. Our vote matters like never before. Retweets aren’t enough. We can steer this country in the right direction but we need a viable option for informing us of who and what we’re voting on.
We have to stop relying on Twitter and screenshots of tweets on Instagram to decide on our political stance. Tweets should push us to do our own research and not blindly decide based off of the herd mentality on social media. TV isn’t always reliable either. You certainly can’t rely on FOX news, sometimes not even CNN. Most of us barely watch live TV anyways. I rarely watch live TV unless I’m watching Jeopardy with my mom.
I, wholeheartedly, believe that two Howard University Alums, Wen-Kuni Ceant (left) and Jordan Wilson (right), have the answer to this pressing issue with their creation of the Politicking app.
This app is exactly what millennials need to ensure that they fully understand candidates in local and presidential elections, without an unbiased opinion.
Politicking is a mobile application with the central aim of providing election information to historically disengaged constituencies. Politicking presents non-partisan information pertinent to municipal, state, and presidential elections, respectively. The app highlights presidential candidate platforms and their relevance to key issue areas, as well as user’s local polling and voting information. The goal of this mobile application to make election information more accessible to potential voters, particularly millennials of color, as well as improving and galvanizing the minority vote through easily accessible information about micro and macro politics.
Millennials seem to be underwhelmed by the state of politics in this country. From our own perspectives, my co-founder and I know that although our forefathers fought for us to have the right to vote; It is difficult not to feel a general sense of apprehension about an entire system that seemed adamant about excluding millennials of color. In light of our country’s political state, Politicking was created to strategically connect millennials with candidates so that they are able to vote confidently. Essentially, Politicking was created to call disengaged voters to action.
Wen-kuni reached out to me following an Election Day experience in which she was incredibly dissatisfied with the lack of available information prior to casting her ballot. While expressing her frustration, the conversation turned into a challenge between the both of us to partner and create a solution to improving the election information barrier. Ultimately, we decided that creating a mobile application would be the most impactful way to aid voters in their decision on Election Day. Mobile applications already supplement our everyday lives, so we thought it made most sense to create a comprehensive tool which informed users on all elements of participating in the political process.
We plan to launch the first version of the app during Spring 2019. This launch will be particularly helpful during upcoming state and local elections, in which voters must familiarize themselves with candidates and ballot referendums. Beyond this, we will provide information leading up to the 2020 Democratic Primary and General Election. We’re approaching an exciting time in politics, and our goal is to offer a platform which allows every voter to exercise an informed right.
The end goal of Politicking is to disrupt politics as we know it. We want to hold each elected official accountable not only during the time in which they are running for office but also for their actions once they receive the endorsement of their constituents. Ultimately, our vision is for every single voter in America to walk into the polls feeling confident in their decision. We will not rest until every single eligible American is registered to vote. We won’t be satisfied until the racial and socioeconomic disparities we see in the demographics coming out to vote each year change. There is much to be done to enhance the political conversation in this country and Politicking plans on doing it through inclusion.
If you want more info on the Politicking App visit their website.
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