US citizens can now register to vote through Facebook Messenger

US citizens who are not registered to vote in the upcoming presidential election can now enrol themselves in the voters’ list through Facebook Messenger. A US-based non-profit public service organisation Ad Council launched GoVoteBot – an automated tool within Facebook’s Messenger platform designed to make it easy for prospective ballot casters to get registered and know election-day logistic information, Mashable technology website reported. GoVoteBot will not only simplify and personalise the task but also provide some amusement along the way. “It has a bit of a cheeky personality. But it’s completely nonpartisan – it has no opinion on who you vote for,” Dzu Bui, Ad Council’s Vice President of campaign development, was quoted as saying. To work with the bot, one needs to simply type an introductory greeting to which the bot will respond with a dropdown menu of options, including a polling location finder and absentee options in addition to registration options and links. Voters can choose one of the options according to his/her needs and complete the process. The integration is made possible by data pulled from Google Civic – the search giant’s repository of electoral information – and the US Vote Foundation, the report said. The campaign team noted that the bot might pique the interest of young people, who are notoriously apt to be no-shows at the polls. IANS