Civic News

Take Off Election Day campaign gains steam among tech companies

Companies including D.C.-based TransitScreen are making a pledge to encourage employees to take time off to vote in November.

Just do it. (Photo by Flickr user brooklyntheborough, used under a Creative Commons license)

San Francisco-based venture capitalist Hunter Walk really wants to get as many people as possible to the polls in November.
Having learned that not all states and employers encourage employees to take some time off to go vote on Election Day, Walk decided to take matters into his own hands. He began encouraging tech CEOs to join a public list pledging to actively encourage employees to go vote.
What began as a few tweets and a list on Quora grew to a movement with its own website, takeoffelectionday.com, and a Google Doc with the names (as of press time) of nearly 140 participating companies.
https://twitter.com/hunterwalk/status/756987944741720064
In a Medium post Walk describes his effort and what inspired it: “Just as our industry suggests tech literacy should be part of every American’s skillset, so too should civic literacy be part of ours,” he writes.
Among the companies who have joined the pledge are big names like Task Rabbit, GiphyBuffer and Spotify US. D.C.-headquartered TransitScreen is also a participant. You can find the full, constantly updated, list here.
So here’s a question: In a city so defined by political comings and goings, how will #dctech respond to this initiative?

Companies: TransitScreen

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