A super PAC that has raised more than $60,000 to give voters free rides to the polls has now added a telephone hotline to what had been a strictly digital effort in Georgia's 6th Congressional District.
My Ride to Vote's nonpartisan offer comes after a similar effort last year for the presidential election, which saw voters take advantage of the free rides in states including Florida, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. This time, however, it's all about Georgia ahead of the nationally watched June 20 runoff election between Republican Karen Handel and Democrat Jon Ossoff.
Here’s how it works: 6th District voters can text “VOTEGA” to 38470 to get a promo code for a free ride to and from the polls. They then access the ride from the Uber app, which they must download if they don’t already have it.
Voters can also call 770-765-7571 to request a ride at any time. The hotline is geared towards voters that don’t have smartphones or do not yet have the Uber app, according to Ben Leiner, My Ride to Vote’s executive director.
The hotline will be open for the remainder of early voting, which ends Friday, and on Election Day this coming Tuesday. Leiner said that when voters call the hotline, My Ride to Vote will request an Uber ride on their behalf.
The money to pay for the rides is coming from My Ride to Vote, which is raising money toward the project using the crowdsourcing site Crowdpac. Uber itself is not providing free rides or making a political endorsement, the company has said.
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