New CityXones tool finds early voting place near you
CityXones, LLC, a software company that provides hyperlocal and community information, has launched an easy online early voting product.
It uses your real-time location, anywhere in Cook County, to let you immediately find a polling place or official ballot drop-off location near you at any time. This eliminates the need to plan to vote early, as voters can use the CityXones tool on their computer, tablet or mobile phone whenever it is convenient for them.
CityXones brings together local and community news, information and data into a format that is easy for users to incorporate into their daily lives. CityXones has previously partnered with Crain's Chicago Business and The Hyde Park Herald on several local journalism projects, and with an events company for an interactive community experience. This is the first purely technology driven local product for the company.
"There is a lot of information out there, but it can be time-consuming and unrealistic for the average person to find it, synthesize it and use it effectively in their daily lives," says Marisa Bryce, the co-founder and new CEO of CityXones.
"The goal is to get local users the information they need, when they need it and in a way they can immediately use it. Voting is fundamental to our communities. Voting early should be made as easy as possible."
The Knight Foundation notes 100 million Americans still don't vote. There are many reasons why. Some include apathy, disillusionment or lack of a connection to any of the candidates. Another reason? It isn't convenient.
According to the Pew Research Center, only about 50% of registered voters expect that voting in the November 2020 election will be easy. The coronavirus, concerns about mail-in voting and the anticipated strong voter turnout are expected to make this election season more chaotic and likely less convenient than usual.
Lack of convenience isn't new. Juggling schedules can affect everyone, including professionals, parents, essential workers or students. For example, as reported by Vox, only about 46% of those between 18-29 vote. A contributing factor includes conflicting or unstable school or work schedules.
"Our students want to be civically active," says Marla Krause, Faculty Advisor for The DePaulia at DePaul University and an early adopter of CityXones.
"They understand the importance of voting and how it directly impacts their future. But the nature of student life means they often have time limitations; they have paid jobs and internships on top of their school course load. We wanted to make sure those limitations didn't keep them from voting by giving them the ability to vote whenever they found some free time."
The CityXones product lets early voting fit neatly into anyone's ever-changing schedule.
"Our lives can get busy or unpredictable," says Bryce. "We want to ensure that voting doesn't fall off your 'to-do' list. Now you can vote any time you have an opening in your day. If you are at your home, workplace, school, gym, out running errands or just somewhere in between, you can quickly, and even spontaneously, work early voting into your day."
To find your early polling place here, visit www.cityxones.com and click on the Early Voting Cook County tab. The product will show you how to turn on your real-time settings and also gives quick access to some of Cook County's other voting information.
About CityXones, LLC
CityXones (www.cityxones.com) technology engages citizens by giving them personalized news, information and data in a way that makes it easy for them to understand, discover and support the people, businesses, organizations and issues in their communities.
It was founded by Marisa Bryce; James O'Shea, former managing editor of The Chicago Tribune, editor of The L.A. Times and founder of The Chicago News Cooperative; and Bill Parker, former Associate Managing Editor of The Chicago Tribune and Deputy Editor of Chicago News Cooperative.
O'Shea and Parker, currently advisers to CityXones, are developing a company to focus on original journalism. The two companies will partner on a multitude of projects.