We like to think that what we’re doing here is as much a journalism project, an open and honest look into the state of the American voting system, as it is a push for a national dialogue about election reform.

To that effect, Barnett and I are working furiously to get into the Networked Journalism Summit this week at the City Univeristy of New York. The summit is organized by Jeff Jarvis, CUNY professor and editor of both the Buzzmachine and PrezVid blogs. We’ve been trying to get into the summit since late September. We’re told it’s overbooked, but we happen to be in New York this week and will do everything we can, up until the last minute, to get in and learn about/share best practices with other like-minded folks. It promises to be a great event, and if you take a look at the attendees, many friends of Why Tuesday? will be there.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

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Why Tuesday? outreach director Barnett Zitron hard at work in WT? global headquarters, New York City.

While we prepare for the launch of our new website and video blog, follow our every move on Twitter!

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Just posted this to YouTube. It’s a new video with some lite election reform news, a preview of the new Why Tuesday? site, and request for participation from YT’ers.

Subscribe on our YouTube page to stay involved!

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Behind the scenes of our website relaunch, and other fun stuff, at twitter.com/whytuesday. Subscribe there and on YouTube to stay involved. And contact us at whytuesday.org.

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Even though our question didn’t make it into the first CNN/YouTube debate, the video got some nice buzz from Computerworld and PC World magazines. They named our question one of the Funniest YouTube Questions for Candidates.

… as CNN culls through the videos to choose questions for its July 23 debate, it’s also finding that some questioners are using humor — in many cases, quite well — to get their points across.

[snip]

10. #584

Jacob Soboroff asks: “Why do we vote on Tuesdays?”

The fact that the majority of the politicians we asked didn’t know why we vote on Tuesday is funny, but also a bummer, given that if they had any idea, they’d know how old and outdated the reason we vote on Tuesday is. That’s one of many problems with our broken election system that we’ll be exploring in the months ahead.

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Being here at the Citadel in Charleston for the CNN/YouTube debate has been an amazing experience! The fact that our question wasn’t chosen shows how important it is that we continue this conversation about reforming the way (and maybe day) we vote.

Even though America ranks 139 out of 172 countries in the world in voter turnout, and more people vote for American Idol than the U.S. president, tonight there was only one question on election reform and one candidate given time to answer. Not to worry. I’m headed up to the spin room with my camera to get some real answers.

Here’s the question we wanted the candidates to answer tonight:

Check back here soon for my video report from Charleston. It may be a day or so. I’m headed back to Why Tuesday? global headquarters in NYC tomorrow morning.

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This fall, Why Tuesday? is going to relaunch with a brand new interactive website, documentary video series and a new set of election issues to talk about. We want to include you and your stories in the series, so we set up this new homepage so you can get in touch with us.

Have you had an adventure or misadventure at the polls? Wondered why politics happens the way it does? Go to whytuesday.org and let us know about your personal experience with American democracy. Invite us to your town. We want to tell your story, as I explain in this video:

On a separate note: Keep your eyes peeled for our question during Monday’s CNN/YouTube debate. We’re keeping our fingers crossed.

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If you’ve logged onto our YouTube page recently, you might have noticed that the page looks a little different. We’ve put up some new artwork and organized the videos to make them more accessible. Take a look:

New here? Why Tuesday? is a nonpartisan effort to increase voter participation by encouraging a national debate about election reform. In the United States, the world’s most famous democracy, the problem of the vanishing voter is so bad that we lag behind almost every nation on Earth in voter turnout! The question “why do we vote on Tuesday?” spurs other important questions about weaknesses in our democracy, and Why Tuesday? is dedicated to addressing them.

While we gear up our game plan for the 2008 election, spend some time over at youtube.com/WHYTUESDAY and catch up on our first “season” of videos. The LA Times called the videos “an amusing cross between civics lesson and campaign-trail ‘gotcha.’” Stay tuned here and to our YouTube page for updates about our next adventure! Contact us here.

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We want to extend a warm welcome to those of you that recently discovered Why Tuesday? because of former Senator Bill Bradley (our honorary co-chair). He’s been traveling around the country promoting his new book, The New American Story, and he’s talked about us at several stops along the way. Maybe you heard about us at a book signing, or maybe it was on PBS. However you made your way here, welcome! We’re currently gearing up for the 2008 campaign. Here’s WT?’s Jacob Soboroff with more about what we’re up to:

WT? is a nonpartisan effort to increase voter participation by encouraging a national debate about election reform. In the United States, the world’s most famous democracy, the problem of the vanishing voter is so acute that we lag behind the majority of nations on Earth in voter turnout! We think the question “why do we vote on Tuesday?” leads to other important questions about weaknesses in our democracy and we’re dedicated to addressing them. By the way, we vote on Tuesday because of an 1845 law that was supposed to make it easier for Americans that traveled by horse and buggy to get to the polls at a convenient time. Time for a change? We think so.

We are non-political and universal in our advocacy; WT? welcomes community and national leaders, voters and non-voters, young and old, and members of all political parties (or none).

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Hey y’all. Today WT? announced that, in conjunction with an appearance today by our honorary co-chair Senator Bill Bradley at UCLA, we will donate 366 copies of Senator Bradley’s new book, The New American Story, to Los Angeles area schools and libraries. The goal of the gift is to encourage discussion about election reform, which is featured in the Senator’s book.

Here’s WT? founder Bill Wachtel’s comments about today’s events:

Senator Bradley has always had the courage to tell the truth and his book simply carries on that tradition. He sees the ever growing class of permanent nonvoters as a powerfully sad sign of the times. The fact that America ranks 139th of 172 nations worldwide in voter turnout isn’t a problem, it is a plague. Why Tuesday? is proud to bring the conversation about election reform we started in 2005 to the classrooms and libraries of Los Angeles.

In The New American Story Bradley - a bestselling author, former Knicks star, and onetime presidential candidate - asks, “what will it take to make America a better, stronger, truer country?” Bradley believes that America is at a teachable moment when we are compelled to reevaluate our political system, our leadership, our agenda as a nation, and ourselves as citizens.

Bradley’s appearance at UCLA was co-sponsored by WT? and the UCLA School of Public Affairs. For media inquiries about today’s event, contact James Carmichael by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Jennifer Dang, UCLA Daily Bruin

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