‘Move the Line’ app tracks early voting poll wait times

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) – If you’re heading out to vote and you want to know the shortest wait times near you, there’s an app for that.  The ‘Move the Line’ app  released Thursday by MOVE Texas and Irys tracks wait times at voting polls in Bexar County.

Voters have been turning out in droves, creating long lines at many polls, while some locations are drawing few people.

The app, dubbed Move the Line, “alleviates voter deteral and reduces exposure time to COVID-19,” said Beto Altamirano, CEO and Co-founder of Irys. It “enables residents to track wait times and allows polling locations to share wait times with voters.”

He says this year, long lines aren’t merely an inconvenience, they’re a potential health risk that may deter residents from voting.

The Bexar County Elections Department keeps track of the number of ballots cast at each location and publishes that information on the website every night after the polls close.  However, the department does not track wait times, which this app does.

The app does not have to be downloaded or installed and it can be accessed via phone or computer here.

MOVE Texas and Irys hope the app reduces unnecessary poll wait times, and encourages every eligible voter to exercise their right to vote.

Mario Bravo with Irys forewarns Bexar County voters that there may not be a lot of data on early voting sites right now because news about the app was just released Thursday.

“The more people use it, the more data will be there.  Somebody might open the app right now and see some of the locations might not have data yet because it’s just been released,” said Bravo.

He urges voters to enter information about the wait time at your early voting poll at MOVETexas.org/movetheline to help other voters.

MOVE Texas is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, grassroots organization working to build power in underrepresented youth communities, and Irys is a local Bexar County technology company.

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