DISHA Connect

IMPORTANT: DISHA Connect is NOT a government app. It does not represent, and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by, any government agency or election authority. For official election information, use the government sources listed below. DISHA Connect helps Hindu-American volunteers reach out to their own personal networks and encourage civic participation, one text at a time. The app finds people in your phone contacts who may appear on a list of Hindu voters compiled from public county voter registration records, then makes it easy to send them a personal reminder to vote using your own phone's messaging app. KEY FEATURES - Contact matching with privacy in mind: your contact names and phone numbers stay on your phone. To find matches, your phone turns each phone number into a code and sends only those codes. We compare the codes with the voter file. We never receive your contacts' names or phone numbers. - Personal, authentic outreach: messages are sent through your own phone's messaging app, from your own number. - Voting status: see which of your matched contacts have already voted, based on public records from county elections offices. - Civic Q&A: ask general questions about how elections and government work. Every answer shows the source it came from, with a link you can check yourself. - Six languages: English, Hindi, Gujarati, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam. - Track your own outreach activity over time. OFFICIAL SOURCES OF GOVERNMENT INFORMATION Voter registration and voting status information comes from public records of county elections offices in Texas (Fort Bend, Harris, Brazoria and Montgomery Counties), obtained under the Texas Public Information Act. Official sources: - Texas Secretary of State, Elections Division: https://www.sos.texas.gov/elections/index.shtml - VoteTexas.gov (registration, early voting and Election Day information): https://www.votetexas.gov - Check your Texas voter registration: https://teamrv-mvp.sos.texas.gov/MVP/mvp.do - Harris County elections: https://www.harrisvotes.com/ - Fort Bend County elections and voter registration: https://www.fortbendcountytx.gov/government/departments/elections-voter-registration - Brazoria County Clerk, elections: https://www.brazoriacountyclerktx.gov/departments/elections - Montgomery County elections: https://elections.mctx.org/index.asp?curLang=English - Texas Public Information Act, Office of the Attorney General: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/open-government Civic Q&A answers cite official government websites where possible, and other reference sites such as Ballotpedia (https://ballotpedia.org) and Vote.org (https://www.vote.org). The source of each answer appears with the answer. Always confirm dates and requirements with your county elections office or VoteTexas.gov. A full list of sources and this disclaimer is also in the app (Settings, Sources and disclaimer) and at https://www.dishausa.org/disha-connect. NON-PARTISAN DISHA USA (https://www.dishausa.org) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan organization. DISHA Connect does not support or oppose any political party, candidate, or ballot measure. Its sole purpose is encouraging civic participation within the Hindu-American community. It is not a government service and does not register voters or accept ballots.