Video The Vote Runs 2012 Florida Election Monitoring Program on Election Night

Video The Vote, a national network of citizen journalists, is announcing its 2012 Election Day monitoring program, which will feature a nationwide push encouraging all voters to document disenfranchisement in their communities.

“In an era of partisan voter purges, onerous ID requirements, and organized intimidation, it’s not enough for citizens to just cast their ballots,” said Matt Pascarella, Video the Vote Campaign Director. “And with the advent of smart phones and social media, every voter has the power to make sure that any problems in their community are recorded and distributed for all the world to see.”

LIVE MULTIMEDIA UPDATES FROM FLORIDA HERE: http://storify.com/videothevote/florida

This election cycle, Video the Vote is partnering with Ustream, the leader in live online video to power citizen reporters with a seamless platform to broadcast election hotspots across the country with the Ustream mobile app. On Tuesday, November 6th, citizen reporters will go live on Ustream from polling locations to keep watch on the voting process through live video in order to help monitor voting intimidation and voter suppression in key states throughout the U.S. Video the Vote is also asking voters to tag their content with #VideoTheVote to ensure that it can be easily found by the media. “We know from recent history what happens when elections are this close. It’s up to us as voters to keep watch on our democracy,” said Pascerella.

STREAMING VIDEO GOES LIVE ON TUESDAY: http://www.ustream.tv/user/videothevote

Video the Vote was founded in 2006 in response to the massive voter disenfranchisement in the elections of 2000 (Florida) and 2004 (Ohio). In 2012, the need to protect voting rights is as great as ever. This election season has seen numerous examples of voting rights being trampled. Voter ID laws have been passed in 33 states, making it more difficult for particularly student, elderly and minority voters to cast ballots. In Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Columbus, billboards were placed in African American and Latino neighborhoods advertising the criminal penalties for voter fraud, an essentially non-existent problem. Additionally, a tea party related group called “True the Vote” has pledged to send volunteers across the country to challenge voters at the polls.

WHEN YOU #GOVOTE BE READY TO #VIDEOTHEVOTE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaSQLIhp8Ik&feature=player_embedded

As in recent elections, Video the Vote volunteers will monitor expected hot spots, particularly in swing states. The project will also dispatch videographers who sign up at VideoTheVote.org in response to reports to the national voter hotline, 1-866-OUR-VOTE. Mr. Pascarella explains, “... the biggest source of content will likely come from voters who use smart phones to record problems at their polling stations, and then upload photos and videos to social media web sites like YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.”

Live National multimedia updates HERE.

Video the Vote is a national network of citizen journalists, independent filmmakers, and media professionals working together to protect voter rights by documenting voting irregularities. Since 2006, Video the Vote volunteers have captured hundreds of videos from across the nation documenting the many obstacles that voters face at the polls: long lines, broken voting machines, incorrectly applied laws, and outright intimidation. Their videos have been used by numerous media outlets as well as for evidence in courts and Congressional Hearings. Interested volunteers can sign up at VideoTheVote.org.