Features

MoveOn—the Berkeley based activist organization that’s been using the Internet to shake up the political scene—is calling together a flash mob to register voters in Berkeley Saturday. 

“Flash mobs” are rapidly organized gatherings called together by the Internet and mobile phone, and originally began as a form of high tech pranking, with crowds called together to perform absurd acts then quickly disperse. 

Of late, the phenomenon has been taking on a more serious tone, sparked in part by a recent Doonesbury series about flash-mobbing for Democratic Presidential hopeful Howard Dean. 

MoveOn—founded during Clinton’s impeachment in 1999 by software entrepreneurs Wes Boyd and Joan Blades—takes the next step, using the practice to get out the vote. 

For Saturday’s event, volunteers—anyone in Berkeley who wants to join in is welcome—will gather on at 2 p.m. on Shattuck Avenue between Berkeley Bowl and Walgreens.