myvoterinfo🔗

Overview

MyVoterInfo is an app designed to make voting easier by helping users check their voter registration status, view relevant election data, and find nearby voting locations.

(TLDR: This project was the brain child of a 48-hour hackathon)

Inspiration

We saw the recent voter law changes (in early 2024) that created barriers to voting, such as removing inactive voters from registration lists and decreasing access to mail-in voting drop boxes. Our goal is to simplify the voting experience and provide easy access to critical information.

Process

We built the app using Expo, React Native, and Firebase for authentication. To check registration status, we pull user data (first name, last name, birthday, and zip code) and verify it against state databases. If the user is registered, their elected representatives and polling location information are displayed. For users who aren’t registered, we direct them to online registration options where available.

We integrated Google Maps to display nearby ballot drop-off and voting locations. Tapping a marker shows location details, including voting hours and an option to open the location in Google Maps. We also added a crowdsourcing feature to allow users to report wait times at these locations.

Key Highlights

1. Firebase Authentication
2. Voter registration status check
3. Real-time polling locations and realted informations, connected to Google Maps
4. Crowdsourcing wait-time at each polling location
5. Web-scrapping registration data from state websites using Puppeteer

Takeaways

1. Learned a new styling library
2. Hackatons are SUPER DUPER fast-paced and stressful, but also crazy fun.

Rating: 11/10 (Will definitely do this again 😋)