The 2016 election is behind us and in a very short time, thousands of new elected officials will begin working for you in Washington, D.C. and in state legislatures and city councils nationwide. As we look ahead to a new year of policymaking, it’s a good time to reflect on the issues that matter most to you and how you can be part of the changes you want to see in our country and in your own community.
As our CEO Matt Mahan recently told Forbes, the Brigade team is taking stock of what we’ve learned during this election cycle and how we can apply that knowledge to the experiences we build in 2017 and beyond. In particular, off-cycle state and local elections present an exciting opportunity. As Matt points out: “Americans are eligible to vote all the time, but we elect a lot of mayors with 10–20% turnout — and primaries are even worse.”
There are plenty of elections to keep an eye on next year, with two high-profile gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia and a host of municipal elections. Voters in places like New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Seattle and Detroit will elect new mayors and many other cities and towns will also have city council seats up for grabs.
In 2017, we’ll certainly continue to invest in and release products that voters can use to engage meaningfully around elections. You can also expect to see other useful tools and features to help you and your fellow voters make sense of our system of government. Incidentally, if you want to come help us build all of this, we’re hiring: brigade.com/jobs!
Our work will be influenced by a major research project currently underway that examines GOTV (“get out the vote”) efforts on Brigade and the extent to which personalized, social notifications impacted real-world voter behavior. At the same time, we’re studying specific cohorts of voters on Brigade whose vote-pledging foreshadowed Donald Trump’s historic win. For more, read/listen to this NPR “All Things Considered” story.
Meanwhile, don’t forget that our website and apps for iPhone and Android are a great way to bridge political divides and find common ground with family, friends and neighbors as the winter holidays approach. While you might have cast different votes in November, when dig into issues, you’re bound to find areas of agreement.
Finally, we love hearing your feedback, so if you have any suggestions for how we can make Brigade better next year, don’t hesitate to reach out by emailing support@brigade.com.
Happy holidays from the Brigade team!
