- "I, Jeremy Hansen, pledge online democracy... if you elect me as Vermont State Senator for Washington County" [ See Website ]
- Phil Dodds joins Hansen's online pledge as candidate for the US House of Representatives from Florida Disctict 3 [ See Website ]
Vermont, Aug.8.─ Independent state Senate candidate Jeremy Hansen (photo), running in Washington County, today demonstrated a sophisticated beta website where voters can comment, weigh pros and cons, and direct Hansen's potential Statehouse vote.
Hansen pledges, if elected, to make policy decisions solely based on his constituents' online input. He says he will state his own opinion on matters, but will otherwise vote according to the information gathered by this interactive platform.
"People need to have a louder voice in a more direct way," said Hansen, currently an assistant computer science professor at Norwich University. "We have the technologies to do this. Why not make it work?"
Hansen was quick, however, to point out the limitations of the technology. "The difficulty is convincing people that this could work," Hansen said. "I'm the first person to say it's possible that it might not work, though I'm of the opinion that this is a powerful tool for people to ensure that their legislators are actually representative" ...
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