The app every voter needs in 2016

With the elections coming up in 2016, it’s not only important to vote, but to vote smart. With just a 59 percent voter turnout in 2012, it is clear that getting every voter to the polls is important, but it is also just as important to make sure that those voters are educated on who they are voting for.

In 2008, Isaac Mohr stated, “If every fourth person you meet votes the same as one of their friends or bases their vote on one catchy commercial or slogan, and … only one-third of the country votes, that’s more than 100 million people. And if a quarter of them vote blindly, that means more than 25 million people are voting blindly. Twenty-five million votes could swing an election, which means that people who might not even know more than his name could decide our president.”

Those numbers are scary.

The 2012 elections were a sobering wake-up call for Democrats which proved that voting is just as important for The House and Senate as it is for the Presidency. Even my own home state of Nevada saw an upset in the state legislation after the 2012 polls. Beyond the POTUS, there are many more people that are deciding our laws, and getting down to their records, beyond the rhetoric, is critical to making rational and educated voting decisions at the polls.

There is a new app on the market that can help voters prepare to cast their ballots fully armed with educated information on not only who they are voting for, but with access to every vote on every bill that each candidate has seen right at their fingertips.

The free app is called Instavote, and it is available on the App Store and Google Play. Once you create a profile, you can instantly see the representatives for your district in Congress, and with a simple tap of their name, you can see every bill that they have voted on, and how they voted. (See image here.)

Another amazing feature of Instavote, aside from being fully educated on who you are voting for, is that you yourself can vote on each bill, and your representatives can see your opinion about the bills that they are voting on. If you tap on a bill, you get a full summary of the bill, and you can start a discussion with other voters about that particular bill by creating a “bill shout.” (See image here.)

The app includes an option to drill down into each bill to see how the other Instavote users voted, including the percentage breakdowns per state. You can quickly and easily see how every member of Congress voted as well. (See image here.)

The app also features a social aspect to it. You can follow other Instavote users, and they can follow you. You can send a “shout” voicing your opinion on just about anything, and it will show up in the news feed of your followers.

Mark Roggero, the creator of the app, says that it is “a tool to bridge the communication gap between our Congress and “We the People.” With today’s technology, we have the ability to have our voices heard on how we would like to be governed. Instavote is a resource for legislators that provides visibility into what their constituents expect.”

With this information, we can finally hold our representatives accountable for doing their job, which is representing their constituents, rather than voting purely to please lobbyists and private interest groups. If your representatives aren’t representing you, you can choose to fire them come election day. This app provides voters not only transparency on their representatives, but also for voters to see every bill that passes through Congress, beyond the ones covered by the mainstream media outlets. If knowledge is power, then Instavote is the holy grail of true democracy.

On the flip side, perhaps voters can start voting for individual representatives for The House and Senate based on how well they do their jobs, rather than purely on what political party they claim. It’s a win-win for everyone.

The possibilities with this kind of transparency in Congress are endless. This app is a must-have for every voter. Spread the word, and let’s help America vote smart not only in the 2016, but in all subsequent government elections as well.

Maxwell is a 38-year-old published author and a 15-year resident of Las Vegas, Nevada.