NEW YORK, NY – Predictions of low voter turnout were abound prior to Election Day 2009. Perhaps it is day we vote. Or possibly it is the way we vote. Most agree that our voting system needs a seriously overdue upgrade.

Nearly two years ago, Why Tuesday’s wise co-founder, Norman J. Ornstein put forth, “If Apple or Google — or both — stepped up to the plate to give us the iVote or Voogle, they could save the credibility of American democracy.”

Last year we posed Mr. Ornstein’s idea to Google’s Sergey Brin… watch his answer here.

Just in the nick of time for our annual Thanksgiving-table argument about election reform! (more…)

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NEW YORK, NY – I was digging up 2009 voter turnout statistics and came across a user comment on CNN’s Political Ticker. This comment makes all of us at Why Tuesday? really gratified despite our nation’s increasingly low voter turnout. The comment is in in response to an article about low voter turnout.

Comments on the post are now closed, so here’s our response:

Dear Spirit of America (whoever you are),

Although we don’t believe most folks are afraid of a democracy breakout, we at Why Tuesday? often pray for a democracy breakout before elections, bedtime and large meals.

Thank you again. We could not have said it better ourselves!

Sincerely,

Why Tuesday?

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NEW YORK, NY – On Tuesday November 3rd, a minority of New Yorkers ventured to the polls to cast their ballots. There were more than a handful of elected posts up for grab, most notably Mayor, City Comptroller, Public Advocate and District Attorney. Much was at stake in these elections, not only in the City, but also in Virginia and New Jersey. Be it a weak economic outlook, increasing unemployment, health care, gun control, education, gay rights or a slew of other imperative issues, City voters by-and-large decided to stay quiet, stay home, and not vote. (more…)

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Last month, as I let you know in advance here, I participated in a panel at the 140 Characters Conference at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles. The panel was called Hollywood Politics: The Making of a Twitter Cause Celeb and it was moderated by blogger Maegan Carberry.

We talked about how, in Maegan’s words, “Twitter has allowed real life celebrities and the newly created class of Twitter celebrities to participate in the political process.” My co-panelists were Variety Managing Editor Ted Johnson, Causecast director of strategic partnerships James Sutandyo and Participant Media’s Wendy Cohen.

I tried to stress how the work we do at Why Tuesday? towards increasing voter participation and turnout in elections goes hand-in-hand with technology like Twitter. Watch the complete panel discussion and read a recap some of my main points after the jump. (more…)

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