Vote online, with Facebook at least

by Jacquelyn Askins

Friday, February 1, 2008 02:08

College students normally use Facebook to contact friends, share photos and keep the world updated on their latest activities. But since early this month students have also used the social networking site to “vote” in presidential primaries.

The League of Young Voters and MoveOn.org Political Action launched their Facebook primary the same day as the Iowa caucus. Students can add the primary application to their profiles and choose their favorite candidate.

“You can choose to vote by secret ballot or share with your friends,” said Sam Dorman, League of Young Voters’ Director of Online Programs. “You can put a badge on your profile that says who you voted for and why.”

The Facebook primary application will be available until Super Tuesday when 24 states hold their actual primaries. More than 25,000 users have voted in the primary, and University of Wisconsin students make up a big portion of the number.

“Wisconsin is definitely in the top 10, I think within the top five or six as far as participating students,” Dorman said. “People do it, and they invite their friends to do it. It spreads peer to peer; it took off like wildfire.”

The League of Young Voters created the application to amplify the voice of young people and bring their issues to the forefront, Dorman said. “We try to organize young people where they are, and online social networks are the place to do that,” he added.

Dorman said he hopes the participation in the online primary election will increase students’ voting rates in the real Wisconsin primary.

“We’re sending notices to people to encourage them to vote,” Dorman said. “It’s just the first step to engage people, and any way you can start the engagement is a positive thing.”

But College Democrats chair Oliver Kiefer said while the Facebook primary is “a unique idea,” it is no guarantee of increased student voting.

“Certainly anything we can do to bring the primaries to young voters is a good thing,” Kiefer said. “It doesn’t hurt, but I would be hesitant to see how much it actually helps and to rely too heavily on it.”

According to Dorman, students who cast their primary votes with John Edwards or Rudy Giuliani will be given an opportunity to vote again. “We’re sending out memos, and people who voted for candidates who dropped out can keep their vote or go back and change it,” he said.

Wisconsin residents will cast their primary votes Feb. 19, after more than half of the other states have held their primaries.