New mobile app created in Detroit aims to inform and empower young voters
(CBS DETROIT) - A non-partisan mobile app created and launched in Detroit called Politics on the Go is informing the next generation of voters.
"[It's] a one-stop shop for political information," said 27-year-old Arabia Simeon, the app's founder. "Politics on the Go, aka POGO, [simplifies] civic engagement for Gen Z and Millennials."
Touted as a personalized voter guide with a Tinder-like design, POGO helps users find candidates they align with, allowing them to build their ballot before heading to the polls.
"Swiping left and right on politicians, [is] probably something that no one would have ever thought they would be doing someday," Simeon said. "It kinda makes it a little fun."
A self-proclaimed "Zennial," Simeon says she created POGO to educate young voters like her while fostering political engagement on election day and throughout the year.
"[When I first voted], I didn't know anything going on on my local level," she said. "I completely forgot about the local candidates, and I was like, who are these people?"
A national poll recently released by the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School indicates that among 18-to-29-year-olds nationwide, more than half of young Americans say they will definitely be voting in the presidential election this fall. Simeon says when they do, she wants them to have all the information they need at their fingertips in a single app.
"POGO is my opportunity to actually use my skills as vehicles for change to actually help young people, which is actually what I care about the most," Simeon said.