Putting Democracy in Your Hands (Literally)

One thing that's great about living in the 21st century is that if you want to connect with your elected representatives and tell them which way to vote on a particular issue, there actually is an app for that.

Visible Vote is a free application, available for most smart phones, Facebook, PCs, and Macs, to act as a "nonpartisan and unbiased service that brings greater transparency and accountability to our representative form of government."

Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, you can instantly access information about issues coming before Congress, and advise your Congressman which way to vote.

You can also track how your Congressman voted on issues that are important to you, monitor how often your Representative votes, and how other Visible Vote users in your state are casting their ballot; all in real time.

According to the Visible Vote website, it has surpassed 100,000 users and sent over 1 million votes to members of Congress. Senator Alren Specter (D-PA) has signed on to use the platform in his campaign this year, as have six other candidates.

This all started with an inspired (and frustrated) moment by one American, the website explains:

Visible Vote was founded by Paul Everton, an average citizen, as he tried to "get involved" in the political process in light of the impending $700 Billion bailout. Paul discovered that making your voice heard as an average citizen is nearly impossible, because the system has become so big that it has become impractical for constituents to attempt to have a dialogue with their representatives.

After experiencing firsthand the difficulty with knowing how his legislators had voted and with having his voice heard, Paul sat down with his younger brother and explained the problems and had an “Aha!” moment, and Visible Vote was born.

In today's world, there's an app for just about everything, even democracy.