What is twittervotereport?

Welcome to the Twitter Vote Report wiki.  This the place where you can find out how to help make this project a huge success.  All of our remaining tasks are listed below, so find one that works for you.  But first:

Get Connected

Top Priorities

Election Day is close at hand, and we need to boil this project down to a few priorities.  You can browse additional projects below.

Interactive Map

Our top priority is to create an interactive map according to Andy Carvin's Spec:

- it's embeddable on any website (because our stations may want to embed it locally)

- If it's a google map, have it set in street map mode rather than showing topographical features

- preferably overlaid with the Google/Pew KML data of polling places

- also overlaid with the YouTube/PBS KML of Video Your Vote videos (Dave, have you talked to them yet?)

- Map pinpoints use different icons if specific tags (#ballot, #wait, etc) are used (I think someone did this on the original maplet, right?)

- Clicking a pinpoint displays the full text of what a person submitted if they submitted a tweet or SMS; if it's audio or a youtube video, it would pop up a player to play the content

- If possible, allow the person embedding the code to set its location and scale, so if a user in Ohio wants the default setting to focus on the state of Ohio, they can do that.

The remaining tasks in this area are:

1. Create real-time Gmaps visualization, automatically updated using AJAX, and aggregating data with Marker Manager

2. Determine reporting requirements for heat mapping

3.

Site Design

We need to make some key changes to our homepage.  They are, in priority order

1. Improved Twistori-like frontpage using ajax/better design (Amy Hoy & Thomas Fuchs)

2.

3. Set up Google Analytics and watch traffic

Input and Output Streams

1. Support reports.kml?near= param for proximity reports

2. Review status of iPhone app process; coordinate potential v1.01 (Sze Wong) (See below for currently proposed updates)

3. Finalize and test automated VOIP-based reporting (Jay Phillips)

4. Sweeper interface models, tests, and UI - add "Star" function (Billy Gray, Cory Forsyth)

5. Review of sweeper interface (Mike Subelsky)

6. iPhone App update: Question of "Can we contact you?" and if yes, conditional data entry for email and phone number. (May not need)

Additional Visualizations

1. Additional Google maps visualization using Google Charts (Nick Gauthier)

2. Web Visualization in Ruby-Processing (Jeff Warren)

Additional Projects

We have three volunteer categories, each with its own ways to get involved.  Click on any project to find out how to plug in.

About VoteReport

On November 4th 2008, millions of Americans will go to over 200,000 distinct voting locations and using different systems and machinery to vote.  Some voters will have a terrific experiences, and others will experience the same problems  we have been hearing about for years - long lines, broken machines, inaccurate voting rolls, and others will experience problems that we haven't heard about before. Using either Twitter.com, iPhone, direct SMS, or our telephone hotlines, voters will have a new way to share these experiences with one another and ensure that the media and watchdog groups are aware of any problems. 

As news outlets and blogs will report on Election Day stories, we are building an invaluable resource for thousands of voters to get immediate help. From questions like "where do I vote" or "how do I make sure that my rights are being upheld," Twitter Voter Report augments these efforts by providing a new way for voters to send text messages (aka tweets) via cellphones or computers which will  be aggregated and mapped so that everyone can see the Nation's voting problems  in real-time. 

Imagine a nationwide web map with pins identifying every zip code where Americans are waiting over 30 minutes to vote or indicating those election districts where the voting machines are not working. Collectively we will inform each other when when the lines are too long and ensure that media and watchdog groups know where problems exist.

Four Ways to Use VoteReport

• Twitter: include #votereport and other tags (below) to describe the scene on the ground
• SMS: Send text messages to 66937 (MOZES) starting with the keyword #votereport plus other hash tags (below)
• iPhone and Android: We now have an iPhone App in the App Store and an Android App in the Android Market
• Phone: Call our automated system to report about conditions, using any touch-tone phone

And if you would like to talk to a human to report bad conditions you've observed, please call our partner 1-866-OUR-VOTE.

How VoteReport will work

Anyone with a Twitter.com account can use their cell phones or their computers to send a message and notify voters and election monitors around the country. Watch the Apps page for new developments, and join the discussion at #votereport on freenode. 

Your tweet needs to include:

1. The universal tag (or hashtag) #votereport 
2. For individuals with serious legal issues or someone you know is being prevented from voting - Tweet #EP{two-letter state code} - e.g. #EPNY for New York, #EPOH for Ohio - and a brief message about your problem, and we'll tweet back with next steps.  We have a whole coalition of voting experts supporting us.
3. Tag for additional issues:

• #machine - use this tag to signal a problem with a voting machine
• #registration - use this tag to signal problems with the registration process, people being turned away for paperwok reasons
• #wait:time - use this tag to signal a long wait.  Add a colon and the wait time in minutes - e.g. #wait:30 for half an hour, #wait:120 for two hours.

Your message

We will have real human volunteers reading the messages as well.  Please add additional details to your tweet, or report anything that can't be captured with the hashtags above.  Remember, you must always at least include the #votereport tag, or we'll never find your tweet.

To delve deeper into the our system of hashtags, visit the Hashtags page.  That's where we'll work out any additional tags that might be useful.  But remember, we only have a short time before election day and we need to keep things simple.