Purge Alert browser extension

[diafygi]

What problem are you trying to solve?

There are many attempts[1][2][3] by states to purge voters from the rolls. There is a growing need for voters to continuously monitor their voter registration status so they know quickly if they have been caught up in one of the purges.

Unfortunately, most official voter registration lookup tools by states are very cumbersome to use and do not let you monitor your registration status over time. Additionally, alternative tools (vote.org, register2vote.org) require you to provide your contact information and/or consent to marketing and receiving messages from their organization.

This project's goal is to create a browser extension that makes it easy for voters to keep an eye on their voter registration status, without having to compromise their privacy or worry about spam.

Pros of making a browser extension:

• No privacy/spam concerns (lookup data is stored locally by the browser extension itself).
• No terms of service concerns (individual voters are making the lookup requests via their browser extension, not a third party).
• No server hosting concerns (the lookup code is run by the browser extension itself, so no need to run dynamic app servers).
• Easy to install (two clicks on most browsers, no need to create a user account or password).
• Easy to keep up-to-date (browser marketplaces have background update processes already in place).

Cons of making a browser extension:

• Debugging is hard (users must report bugs/issues since there's no server logging).
• Mobile support is poor (few mobile browsers have extensions).

Who will benefit (directly and indirectly) from your project?

Groups of voters targeted by these registration purges.

What other resources/tools are currently serving the same need? How does your project set itself apart?

• State/local voter registration lookup tools - Most states and many counties have an online voter registration lookup website.
  • Pro: It's the authoritative source on whether you're registered to vote.
  • Con: The websites are often poorly designed and hard to use.
  • Con: One-time check (doesn't alert you if you get purged).
• Vote.org - Nonprofit vote advocacy organization that lets you fill out your information to check your voter registration status.
  • Pro: Easier to use than the vast majority of
  • Pro: Easier to point people to instead of each individual state/county website.
  • Con: Requires more information than most state voter lookup tools.
  • Con: Tracking/third-party data sharing is allowed in their terms of service.
  • Con: Requires you to consent to receive emails/texts from Vote.org.
  • Con: One-time check (unknown if it monitors your status over time).
• Register2Vote.org - Nonprofit vote advocacy organization that lets you fill out your information to check your voter registration status.
  • Similar to Vote.org in that it's easier to use than state websites, but has privacy and spam concerns since it requires you to provide your contact information.
• Vote411.org - League of Women Voters website for voter tools.
  • Pro: Registration information provided alongside the LWV's voter guide.
  • Con: Just provides links to each of the state lookup websites.

Unfortunately, there are no APIs for voter registration lookup, so website automation is the current de-facto standard for non-official lookup tools.

Where can we find any research/data available/articles?

[1] - Texas officials launched voter purge with big splash, little accuracy
[2] - Georgia could purge 330,000 voter registrations before 2020
[3] - Purges: A Growing Threat to the Right to Vote

What help do you need now?

What I will do myself:

• Write Firefox and Chrome extension prototypes

Help needed after prototype is done:

• Design/Branding/Marketing
  • A good name for the project
  • A pretty landing page where people can install the extension
  • Social media presence for the project
  • UI/UX for the extensions/apps themselves
• Software Development
  • Github repo on github.com/open-austin
  • Write scripts to support more states than just Texas
  • Maintain scripts that break

What are the next steps (validation, research, coding, design)?

Project steps:

• Write browser extensions that support Texas
• Create branding + landing page for project
• Add support for other states
• Explore porting the extensions to other programming languages for SDKs

The goal is to have this project functional, at least for Texas, and published to the browser extension marketplaces by Q2 2020.

How can we contact you outside of Github(list social media or places you're present)?

• Email: [email protected]
• Slack: danielroesler on open-austin.slack.com

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[diafygi]

@mscarey assisted in creating a repo: https://github.com/open-austin/purge-alert