The annual ritual of voting up panels for next year’s SXSW in Austin, Texas comes to a close tonight at 11:59 p.m. Central time. Along with lots of friends, a panel I’m organizing, “Big Data: Powering the Race for the White House,” is in the mix. It’s about how the Presidential candidates are using massive databases containing every last detail about you to predict how you’ll vote, if you’ll give, and whether you’ll mobilize your friends. This Stanford University lecture from fellow panelist Dan Siroker (formerly director of analytics for Obama ’08 and now CEO of Optimizely) shows how the Obama campaign did it in ’08, and that’s just on the web side of the house. It’s a must-watch for anyone in politics and just a taste of what you can expect from our all-star panel!

First, you need to sign up here to vote. You don’t need to commit to attending SXSW and you won’t be signing up for any email lists by doing this. And then start voting.

I’d also be remiss if we didn’t give a shout out to many friends who are also on proposed panels this year. Here are some of the coolest panels I found at the intersection of politics, government, and tech, and you’re welcome to post more suggestions in the comments.