The effort comes as a way to increase voter turnout for elections with historically low participation, according to Facebook spokesperson Alec Gerlach. Gerlach said election reminders are sent to specific users based on several criteria, including where they list their current city of residence and if they previously used Facebook to register to vote. Users can also share that they voted in the election as a sort of “digital version of the ‘I Voted’ sticker,” Gerlach said. Facebook officials hope that, by placing the reminders before and on the day of an election, it can hike the participation rate, according to Gerlach. Zizette Mullins, Burbank’s city clerk, said she was unaware of the website’s election notifications but welcomed any and all efforts that get people out to the polls.

Source: Los Angeles Times April 12, 2017 00:58 UTC