As the New Jersey primary election nears, congressional candidate David Applefield took a revolutionary approach to reaching the residents in New Jersey fourth district. The recent launch of Applefield4Congress app is only the starting point for Mr. Applefield to foster civic engagement in New Jersey.

Mr. Applefield is running for Congress to change why people are not interested in local politics. The creation of the app came from his understanding of voters’ frustration, “There is no confidence in political leaders and feelings of irrelevance in the decision-making process”. From there, the solution of this dilemma was the Applefield4Congress app. The two major goals of Applefield’s app are to give residents access to information and to participate directly in congressional decision-making processes.
David Applefield designed his app based on one of his major campaign goals of creating transparency in leadership. As a former investigative reporter and journalist, Mr. Applefield recognizes the value of having the “audacity to ask tough questions.” However, while Mr. Applefield wants to ask tough questions in Congress, he wants the citizens he represents to follow suit, “Not only am I asking, I want citizens to ask too.”

As a fierce advocate for “the public holding candidates accountable”, the Applefield4Congress app would allow residents in district four to be informed. One of the major goals of his app would be to provide updates, relaying to residents what is going on in your name in Washington. The current app features a news section where David Applefield posts frequent announcements and writes on local and national issues.

A second goal of the Applefield4Congress app is to solve low voter turnout in the garden state. The current app features an issue section which breaks down each of Mr. Applefield’s plans to solve major issues in education, healthcare, and protecting small businesses. If elected, Mr. Applefield would take it a step further and implicate real-time voting on issues such as foreign policy, gun control and reproductive rights. The use of straw votes would be beneficial for district four residents and Mr. Applefield alike.

Mr. Applefield compared civic engagement of New Jerseyans to participation grades in school, “We all remember in school part of the grade was participation. We are not participating as voters, too many of us have bad grades in participation.” The addition of real-time voting in the Applefield4Congress app would allow for direct participation in local government.

Mr. Applefield wants to use the Applefield4Congress app to understand how to represent district four in Congress. He urges all citizens to vote in the upcoming election and adds “Don’t vote without being informed”. Next time you browse through Facebook and Twitter on your android or smartphone consider downloading the Applefield4Congress App to learn more.