A new way for citizen engagement?

In the Nov. 3 elections, voter turnout was painfully low across the country. In Virginia, only some 35 percent of registered voters got out to vote. These were important election facing the same uphill battle to get voters to the booths that we’ve seen for decades. In last year’s midterm elections, for instance, voter turnout was the lowest it’s been since the census began measuring it in 1978, and youth voter turnout fell to an all time low with just under 20 percent of 18 to 29-year-olds casting a ballot. 

As a nation, we have to inspire not only our younger generations, but all Americans, to engage in the public policy decisions that affect all of us. We’re clearly failing, but the question is: How do we do a better job of this?  

{mosads}We have been engaging voters in public policy with old tools when there are better ways. Organizations and elected officials fear “unsubscribes” if they engage too much by email, so more and more they have been engaging their followers on social media. But does that translate to action? Citizens still have to repeatedly call their elected officials or sign petitions to make their voices heard. So if you care about issues pertaining to the environment, healthcare, and human rights, to name a few, the calls to action can be overwhelming. This is what Simpolfy is trying to fix.  

Simpolfy is a website that cuts the time out of political engagement. Users can put the organizations or individuals, with whom they share political views, into their “Circle of Trust.” When their trusted source takes a stance on a bill or an issue, Simpolfy notifies users and then notifies their elected officials for them. 

Trust Circles allows organizations to mobilize their base without pestering emails and painstaking calls. Similarly, it allows individuals to show their support without having to call their representatives or fill out online forms each time a new call to action is raised. Users can view their elected officials in one place with a personalized voting grade that calculates how trusted sources have acted on the issues a user cares about. If your elected official doesn’t vote the way you asked, Simpolfy lets you know. It makes information easier to find and actions easier to make because users can leverage the insight and knowledge of their trusted sources who understand the issues and nuances of the legislative process. 

Let’s look at an example. Every night on Last Week Tonight, John Oliver reports in depth on a particular topic – be it laws surrounding churches, corruption in sports, or net neutrality – often with a clear call to action. Oliver has had great success mobilizing his viewers on many of these issues. In some cases, including his call for corporate sponsors to pull their support for FIFA, he has made a significant impact. But how many more could he move to action if the action were simpler?  

Simpolfy users can add John Oliver to their Circle of Trust and then automatically endorse the issues important to Oliver. Organizations and politicians can then also rally behind those issues and leverage Oliver’s passionate base.  

The idea came to us after the Sandy Hook shootings in 2012. Over 80 percent of people wanted some gun reform, and yet no legislative action was taken. So we thought: What if candidates were really held accountable by their actions and citizens had a place to easily learn about their public record? What if citizens could voice their opinion on issues knowing that their voices were being heard? Civic tech organizations before us had tried and failed to do this. We’re hoping to succeed by focusing on the biggest pain point for everyday citizens: time.  

For most people, staying engaged on political matters is a chore. On top of that, if you are able to convince someone to call their elected official, the tangible return on investment is so low, making it even harder to convince them to do it again. Simpolfy attempts to pack more action into a single click so that voters can make the most of their main source of power in our democracy, their vote. When voters have the information they need and feel empowered to make change with the time they have, just imagine what we can do.

Punyasena is the CEO and co-founder of Simpolfy, working to simplify politics in a digital era.