The Story of HoosVoting
For many people, the voting process is confusing and stressful, especially now during the time of COVID-19. From figuring out how to register to finding information about polling locations and early voting, it can be frustrating for anyone. For college students, the added confusion of figuring out absentee ballots, registering at new addresses, and finding rides to polls make voting even more difficult.
This confusion is how the idea of HoosVoting came about. While there are many groups on Grounds that help promote student voting, important information is still spread across different websites, and there aren’t many resources specifically geared towards UVA students. We wanted to create a resource that compiled all the possible information that UVA students might need to be able to get registered to vote and make a voting plan into one, easily accessible site.
We began by mapping out all the possible situations that students might find themselves in, from being unregistered to wanting to reregister in Charlottesville from their home address. During this process, it became especially clear just how complicated voting can be, as we started out with just a few scenarios and ended up with a giant web of possible steps. We gathered information from different resources online, as well as groups at UVA, such as University Democrats, College Republicans, and Student Council.
As someone who is interested in government and politics, I was really excited to be a part of this project, because it gave me a change to use my knowledge to create something that could help people. I created the graphics for the website, and so I wasn’t super involved with the actual building of the site, but it was interesting to see just how simple it can be to make a resource like this. We didn’t even use any actual coding to create the site- instead we used readily available tools such as Tilda. You can actually learn how to do this in our Prototype course as well (plug)!
Overall, I think projects like HoosVoting show the potential that HackCville has for doing good in the community. Our members have a wide range of skills and interests, and when those are combined, really cool things can happen.
