TechCrunch holds its own Presidential primary

 

TechCrunch is doing its part to illuminate the technology agendas of the Presidential candidates. Besides interviewing the candidates on their technology positions, TechCrunch is holding its own primary, where people can vote online from through January 18 for their candidates of choice. At the end of the "primary" period, TechCrunch will tally the votes and endorse one candidate from each party (input from technology leaders and entrepreneurs will also factor into the endorsements). Unlike other primaries, voters get to stuff the ballot box with an allotment of one ballot per day during the month-long primary period. And, there is no requirement for being a U.S. citizen registered to vote or a member of a political party.

In explaining the tech-oriented, virtual Presidential primary, TechCrunch founder Mike Arrington wrote:

We no longer live in an industrial economy - the future is information and the Internet. Our president must carefully consider her or his policies on key tech issues, something they’ve never really had to do before. What is their position on net neutrality? How will they bridge the digital divide? How do we handle technology sales to China and other countries using that technology to perpetrate human rights abuses? Should the Internet be taxed? How do we curb identity theft on the Internet? What is the future of intellectual property protection? How do we handle immigration issues for tech workers? How do we catch up with the rest of the world in the mobile Internet space? And what will we do to encourage research and productization in renewable energy?

 

These are issues that get little attention from mainstream press (with the exception of renewable energy policies), but we think that they deserve to be considered as part of this election. Technology workers in Silicon Valley and elsewhere tend to donate a lot of money and time to campaigns, and they are more frequent voters than the average citizen. The candidate’s positions on technology and related issues impact how they spend their time, money and votes.

Here are the primary results as of this posting: