In what is being hailed as the first in the country and probably the world, the League of Women Voters of Florida and Microsoft rolled out an app that will allow voters to use smart phones to link with Florida Supervisor of Elections offices to check and update voter registration information.
The program, which will include Martin, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach and Polk counties immediately and eventually all 67 Florida counties, will provide Microsoft-powered smart phone “tags” that smart phone users can use to get direct connections to the elections offices.
The tags are smart phone variations on bar codes applied to products in stores. Each unique tag can be read by a smart phone, directing the phone to a smart phone site with information.
In Orange, a smart phone user who scans a “Be Ready to Vote” tag will get a phone number that calls the customer service center at the Orange County Supervisor of Elections office. That office will enable the voter to check his or her voter registration status and update some things, such as an address, or the desire to receive a mail-in ballot.
The league, Microsoft and Orange Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles rolled out the program this morning in Orlando.
Separate tags are being developed for each participating county. The league also has its own tag, which leads to the league’s “Be Ready to Vote” campaign website. The league, Cowles and several other county supervisors who were at the announcement said they imagined adding the tags to everything from mailings to voters, to posters on college campuses to billboards.
Full Article: New smart phone tag will connect voters to election offices – Central Florida Political Pulse – Orlando Sentinel.