The app is result of a collaboration between the PollWatch team, which includes Reboot, WebSava, and Common Cause/NY, along with input from TurboVote, The project also received support from the Voter Information Project and Latino Justice.

“Election Day is often hampered by inefficiency and confusion, leaving voters with little recourse. PollWatchUSA was conceived to help voters report problems in real time, by putting the tool in the palm of their hands. Through crowd sourcing, Common Cause/NY hopes to collect a broad data set to better identify the issues and help create a more effective elections administration system,” said Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause/NY, in a prepared statement.

The data for polling locations is coming from the Voting Information Project, which has acted as civic infrastructure for a number of efforts this year.

“Susan Lerner, our project co-sponsor at Common Cause, was instrumental in making sure the New York polling sites were included in that dataset (with much nudging and cajoling to the Board of Elections),” emailed Jeremy Canfield, service designer at Reboot.

Canfield explained that the project went through three iterations since June.

“We tested it out with users in two primaries, plus got some help from one of Union Square Ventures Product Feedback days,” he wrote. “We used that feedback to simplify the flow, making it as easy as possible for users to report on their voting experience. By making it easy and lightweight to report, plus sharing those reports widely, we can get better data to election advocates (chief among them, Common Cause), who can provide immediate help or work with the various boards of elections to make real time adjustments.”

Notably, Pollwatch is made to work on any smartphone, not just a singular platform. They chose to develop a mobile website, not a native app, avoiding the “shiny app syndrome” that has been problematic for some local governments. Well done, all.