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! We are proud to report that Google (in partnership with Pew’s Voter Information Project) took heed of Mr. Ornstein’s challenge to create the Virginia Poling Place Information Gadget!

We fully support any effort that makes voting information more accessible and open. Last year we partnered with SourceWatch to bring voters the Election Protection Wiki. Such projects, however, raise more questions: How many voters used the gadget? Did it have a positive effect on Virginia’s exceedingly-low turnout this past election?

Stay tuned!