Tech

The Republican election weapon of 2014 is here

Giuseppe Macri Tech Editor
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As both parties gear up for the 2014 midterm elections, conservative social welfare organization American Majority Action is looking to expand the digital playing field for Republicans further than ever before.

Voter Gravity” is a web and mobile interface designed to optimize voter data on the go and power a grassroots campaigning and electioneering effort, similar to the groundbreaking digital presence that powered Barack Obama to the presidency twice over lackluster Republican efforts.

Designed for use as a web application and on mobile devices, Gravity makes far more use of accumulated voter data than previous failures like the Mitt Romney campaign’s “Orca,” which went belly up on Election Day.

Among Voter Gravity’s core features are the ability to organize election volunteers on the go — compiling universally accessible phone banks to let volunteers call from anywhere, creating tailored walk lists based on household voter data, and deploying those maps to mobile volunteers via the canvassing app.

Volunteers can then transmit survey data back to campaign headquarters that’s viewable in real time, highlighting concerns, making adjustments in message and getting out the vote while accumulating data for future campaigns — all in an effort to build bottom-up campaigns, as opposed to the traditional top-down platform.

Designed to be most effective in the final frenzied days of an election, Gravity is intended to capture and make usable the vast amount of data gathered in canvassing that rarely makes it back to election headquarters for collection and analysis.

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Founded by American Majority head Ned Ryun, American Majority Action has raised more than $2 million for the project, which the group hopes will help convert crucial independent voters for Republicans ahead of election time.

Last month the group welcomed Google’s public sector chief technology officer Michele Weslander Quaid to its board, after picking up former George W. Bush White House political director Matt Schlapp in December.

American Majority Action states the software is affordable for campaigns of any size, and also offered for sale to larger advocacy groups like the libertarian educational non-profit FreedomWorks, which has already purchased Gravity.

Voter Gravity is one of a number of new conservative technology ventures designed to capture the digital political sphere that has been dominated by Democrats in recent elections, including a new digital marketing tech startup by the Republican National Committee that launched last week.

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