Will access to public information, peer pressure and a bit of shame send more Oklahomans to the polls? David Glover, 51, a self-described political junkie, hopes so. Oklahoma has seen abysmal voter turnout — so bad that the state ranked third lowest in overall participation during the 2012 elections, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report. Glover says he wants to do everything within his power to change that and get voters to the ballot box for each election. (The next election, by the way, is today’s primary run-off with polls open until 7 p.m.) “I’m trying to figure out how to encourage more people to vote,” said Glover, a self-employed Oklahoma City resident. “There are not many good reasons to vote if you think your vote is not going to matter.”
Enter www.badvoter.org. With a few strokes of the keyboard, people can look up the voting history of anyone registered to vote in Oklahoma. Visitors to the site can call up the first and last name of a voter, as well as the voter’s age, city of residence and the number of days that have elapsed since he or she last dropped a ballot in the box. The site doesn’t identify party affiliation (or how someone voted.)
“It just has a certain type of social pressure,” Glover said. “All of a sudden, you may have a really good reason to vote.”
Full Article: ‘Bad voter’ website might shame Oklahomans into going to the polls – The Edmond Sun: News.