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New Online App To Guide Voters Gets First Test In Miami Beach Election

 

VoterAid, a Miami-based startup, recently launched software designed to match voters to candidates who share their views. The tool was available for use in Tuesday’s Miami Beach mayoral election.

“The basic idea is to kind of take online dating software and bring it to elections,” explained co-creator Juanky Robaina.

To use the tool, voters head to the VoterAid website and answer a three-minute questionnaire identifying their opinions on local and national issues. Users then receive vote recommendations  based on their choices, not only for candidates but also for ballot questions. To get information on the candidate’s position on various issues, VoterAid also sends the same questionnaires to the candidates. For Tuesday’s election, VoterAid offered recommendations for the mayoral race and for ballot questions one and two.

  “We want people to feel informed when they go to local elections,” Robaina said, “instead of voting for the top-ticket race and then leaving the local stuff blank because they feel they don’t know any better.”

Maribel Balbin, president of the Miami chapter of the League of Women Voters, said she “supports VoterAid’s efforts to inform voters” and noted that apps may be an effective way to draw more young voters to the polls. Balbin said increasing turnout is crucial “because the people we elect at the local level continually pass laws and regulations that impact our daily lives.”

While local elections typically see low turnout, Balbin was optimistic about the Miami Beach election this year. “The Miami Beach mayoral race has been very controversial, so I think Miami Beach may see a little spike in participation today,”  Balbin said on election day.

According to Robaina, VoterAid is designed to be short and concise to make candidate research accessible to a wide range of voters. “People can be in line waiting to vote, go on the app and get more information right there,” Robaina said.

The VoterAid app is in the final stages of product development, and the Miami Beach election was  the first election in which the software was used. The startup expected roughly 200 VoterAid users this cycle, and plans to launch an app reaching all of Miami-Dade County for the Novermber 2016 elections.

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