University of Maryland Students Use Debate Watch to Show Election Involvement

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Some 500 students, faculty and staff came to the Colony Ballroom Wednesday, October 3, to watch the first presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. During an opening presentation, they also learned about two new technologies developed at the University of Maryland - The Terrapin Electronic Voting Registration application and a new online polling application that gives users a voice as an event is happening from React Labs. The event was hosted by School of Public Policy Dean Don Kettl.

Terrapin Electronic Voting Registration Application System

This new online application allows University of Maryland students to easily register to vote in Maryland or their home state on a secure university website. Registration information is electronically transmitted to the State Board of Elections for processing. For faculty and staff or other individuals who are not associated with the University, the TerpsVote website offers a link to another state registration site (for all Maryland Residents who have a Maryland state-issued driver's license or identification card through Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA)).

There is no other online university-run voter system in the U.S. that also auto-populates the form. The Student Government Association last year worked with state officials during the consideration of HB173 that allowed the use of electronic signatures for voter registration to include institutions of higher education. Passed by wide margins in Annapolis, the SGA immediately began working to implement the legislation on campus. Working with the State Board of Elections in Annapolis and the President's Office, Division of Information Technology, Division of Student Affairs, the Registrar's Office, the Adele H. Stamp Student Union, and the TerpsVote coalition, a website was constructed and is now online and available.

Watch TerpsVote spokesman Shane Bryan and SGA President Samantha Zwerling as they explained the new system - and Zwerling actually registered to vote (in two minutes!) during the Debate Watch event:

React Labs: Educate

The Debate Watch event also featured a new platform for real-time polling from React Labs. Developed by University of Maryland Professor Philip Resnik, React Labs runs on the most popular mobile devices (iPhone, Android, iPad, and on laptops running Chrome, Firefox or Safari). It will allow participants to register their moment-by-moment reactions to what candidates are saying during the debate using button taps to indicate when they agree or disagree, and when they think candidates are spinning answers or dodging the question. It also supports pre- and post-debate surveys (e.g. demographics, partisanship, issue priorities) as well as questions during the event (e.g. Which candidate best addressed your concerns about healthcare?).

"React Labs is important because, for the first time, we have a technology that brings together the immediacy of real-time reactions, the reach of smartphones, and the precision of traditional polls," says Professor Resnik. "I'd like to see it become the go-to tool for tapping into public opinions as important events are taking place. The students participating in React Labs: Educate may never be willing to answer survey questions on a landline phone -- if they even have a landline phone! -- but they're using their mobile devices every day, and they want their voices to be heard."

The first debate featured more than 3700 participants in React Labs: Educate across the U.S. - from College Park to U.C. Davis - taking part in the polling. Real-time polling will be conducted for remaining debates as well.Download a PowerPoint presentation about the latest findings from this real-time poll on the React Labs:Educate website.

Professor Resnik gave a presentation about React Labs, the reason he created the application and how to use it prior to the debate. School of Public Policy Dean Don Kettl provided the introduction.

DebateWatch 2012