Press Release: Local Volunteers Release "Vote ATX" Voting Place Finder App

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Local Volunteers Release "Vote ATX" Voting Place Finder App

Austin, TX (October 22, 2014) – Local volunteers have released a free application that helps Austin area residents find the best place to vote. The application, Vote ATX, is available at http://voteatx.us

Travis County voters have many options for voting. The Vote ATX application tries to answer the simple question, "Where is the best place I can go vote right now?" The application is location and calendar aware, and helps identify available voting places – even mobile voting locations that move during the day.

The City of Austin has incorporated the Vote ATX technology to power the voting place finder on its election page at http://www.austintexas.gov/vote

The Vote ATX application was developed by volunteers at Open Austin, and is provided as a free public service. First released in 2012, this update includes 10-1 city council district support and a new visual design. The application incorporates open government data provided by Travis County and the City of Austin.

"This is a pivotal election for our city. We hope the Vote ATX app helps people get out and vote," said Open Austin Chair Chip Rosenthal. "We think this app also demonstrates the tech creativity that can be unleashed when governments release open data."

Open government data – or, sometimes, just open data – refers to government data published in a format that is easily loaded into and read by a computer. Open Austin works with local government to support more open data. The City of Austin publishes open data on its data portal at https://data.austintexas.gov

Open Austin is a citizen volunteer group that promotes open government, open data, and civic application development in Austin, Texas. Open Austin was formed in 2009 by citizens interested in the City of Austin web strategy. Open Austin is non-partisan and non-endorsing. It has conducted voter outreach campaigns in every City of Austin municipal election since 2011. Open Austin is on the web at www.open-austin.org

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(Download a PDF version of the press release here.)