A number of Republican political operatives are growing concerned that a voter app developed by former Obama aides will help the Democrats win the turnout war — and the House majority.
“It just blew my mind when I saw it,” said a top Republican adviser of the phone app called VoteWithMe.
“This is the most ingenious and devious thing the Democrats have come up with and I bet you’ll be writing about it as the key to any victory if they win,” said another former party official.
The phone application, available for free in Apple’s app store, was developed to “flip the House,” according to its website.
Those who download it turn over their contacts who are then linked with voting records, key races in their districts and contact information.
What users then see is the voting history of their contacts, their polling places, and if there is a key election in their district. It also shows their party registration, which one user said can be surprising.
What’s more, individual or all contacts can be sent a message to get out to vote today, a powerful influencer and much more than a visit by a party official to a residence, according to one of the concerned Republicans.
The app’s operators tweeted this week that 100,000 people have downloaded it, many in the past week.
VoteWithMe is on ?! We’ve officially hit 100k installs, half of them since Monday! Thanks to everyone who is spreading the word. And if you haven’t downloaded yet, what are you waiting for?!https://t.co/gOkIpke7Mx pic.twitter.com/30EU1Ap47A
— VoteWithMe (@VoteWithMeApp) November 2, 2018
“This is the most amazing app. You can send your contacts a get out the vote message, you can even tailor the message to them based on all the information the app shows you,” said the former party official.
Some reports on the app noted that potential users have expressed concerns about turning over the contact list. But the site’s officials note that most of the voting information about the contacts is already public, though hard to find.
