In the News...

April 15, 2009

DISTRICT CEC ONLINE VOTING DEADLINE IS APRIL 22

In the first public school Internet election in the U.S., the NYC Department of Education, Grassroots Initiative and Election-America teamed up to revitalize parental participation in a Citywide Education Council election.

In order to increase access and encourage participation in this year’s Community and Citywide Education Council (CEC) elections, the New York City Department of Education (DOE) has moved voting entirely online.

The state-of-the-art elections which began with an advisory or straw vote on April 6 at www.powertotheparents.org, will be the first public elections in U.S. history to be held exclusively on the Web.

“These elections are the future of democracy in America,” Chris Backert of Election-America, the technology company overseeing the CEC’s online voting process, said. “Internet voting ensures that hard-working families, who don’t have the time to make it to the polls, aren’t shut out of some of the most important decisions affecting their lives.”

Jeff S. Merritt, the president and founder of Grassroots Initiative, the non-profit organization coordinating candidate and voter assistance for the election said, “Our goal is to make voting as simple and easy as possible. We’re here to help every public school family in the city vote in this election. The more parents who vote, the better our students will be served.”

The CEC's are parental advisory boards that advise the DOE on how to better serve some 1.1 million public school children and their communities throughout the boroughs. The CEC vote will encompass 34 separate elections, one for each of the city’s 32 Community School Districts, as well as for the Citywide Council on High Schools and Citywide Council on Special Education.

This year, more than 500 candidates applied for seats on the councils. Each household with a public school child may cast a single straw, or advisory vote, for the candidates running for either their local CEC or for Citywide Council until April 22. After the results of these straw votes are tabulated and posted online, the president, secretary, and treasurer of the PA/PTA of each of the city’s 1,400 schools collectively referred to as “Parent Selectors”, will cast their votes from May 12 to May 14 to decide the official winners of the elections. The two rounds of elections—parents and then PA/PTA members—will produce one of the largest public Internet voting projects in history.

The online voting site, powertotheparents.org, is available in nine languages. English, Haitian Creole, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, Urdu, Bengali, Korean and Arabic, and available from any Internet enabled computer. Online voting will be available 24 hours a day for the entire duration of both rounds of voting. More than 200 public libraries and learning centers across New York’s five boroughs have made computers available for individuals who may not have Internet access at home. In addition, a number of schools have also made computers available for parents to use. Assistance will be provided for individuals who may not be computer literate.

A toll-free election hotline, 877-NYC-VOTE, is currently operating to assist any individuals who have difficulty voting and/or need to identify a location where they can access a computer. Information about the elections was sent home with children attending New York City public schools and is being distributed through more than 1,000 community-based organizations, 500 houses of worship, 220 public libraries and learning centers, 150 community centers, and some 100 elected officials. An announcement is available online at www.youtube.com/watch, and former Mayor Ed Koch has recorded a reminder message that will go out via automated calls to all student households.

For more information go to www.powertotheparents.org, or call 800.NYC.VOTE, The straw vote polls close on April 22.