http://www.techpresident.com/blog/entry/23417/america_offline_high_stakes_beach_bingo Comments for "America Offline: High Stakes Beach Bingo" en http://www.techpresident.com/blog/entry/23417/america_offline_high_stakes_beach_bingo#comment-1936 I'm of the opinion that item #1 on the To Do list here is simple awareness -- not only of the fact that some ex-felons can't vote in some states, but of our "crazy quilt" of voting laws. I'm going to do something horribly gauche and quote myself, from an article I wrote for AlterNet on <a href="http://www.alternet.org/story/49781/">how progressives in Rhode Island managed to change the law</a> to re-enfranchise ex-felons on release: <blockquote>Take the situation in the Four Corners region of America's southwest as an example. In Salt Lake City, Joe Felon gets his voting rights back while walking out of the prison gates. In Denver, he has to wait until his parole term is up. In Santa Fe, he must bide time until his probation term expires, which could be years or even decades. And in Phoenix, he'll never vote again. </blockquote> And that messiness creates a chilling effect where former felons are confused enough about their rights to just give up on participating in the electoral process. While I don't know exactly how it might work, I agree there's some real good that technology/design could do. A start might be a simple (and reporter-friendly) mapping site. Tue, 01 Apr 2008 12:00:03 -0400 Nancy Scola comment 1936 at http://www.techpresident.com http://www.techpresident.com/blog/entry/23417/america_offline_high_stakes_beach_bingo <p>While web participation is up, so are prison sentences; we need a web campaign to push for felons getting the right to vote. </p> <p><a href="http://www.techpresident.com/blog/entry/23417/america_offline_high_stakes_beach_bingo">read more</a></p> http://www.techpresident.com/blog/entry/23417/america_offline_high_stakes_beach_bingo#comment Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:59:50 -0400 Zephyr Teachout 23417 at http://www.techpresident.com