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Follow My Vote

Website:

followmyvote.com/
Location:

Golden, CA
Type:

Online Voting Activist Organization
Formation:

2012
Executive Director:

Adam Kaleb Ernest

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Follow My Vote is an activist organization that supports the expanded use of internet-based voting and the use of blockchain technologies to create what it considers trackable and verifiable voting systems. 1

The organization advocates the creation of a fully online and mobile blockchain-based voting system in which voters can cast ballots from personal devices including computers, mobile phones, and tablets. 2

Follow My Vote has claimed that its technology can be used to audit election results 3 and that paper-based voting systems are not secure. 4

History and Leadership

Follow My Vote was co-founded in Blacksburg, Virginia, 5 by Adam Kaleb Ernest, Nathaniel Hourt, and Will Long on July 4, 2012. 6 7 8

Follow My Vote co-founder Adam Earnest is the organization’s CEO. Follow My Vote co-founder Will Long’s work on elections is inspired by controversy regarding the 2000 presidential election and the Bush v. Gore Supreme Court ruling. Long also has said he has questions about the decision of the 2020 re-election campaign of then-President Donald Trump to file 63 election-related lawsuits. 9

As of August 2024, Follow My Vote is headquartered in Golden, Colorado. 10

Activities

Follow My Vote is a for-profit 11 activist organization that supports the expanded use of online voting and the use of blockchain technologies to create what it considers trackable and verifiable voting systems. Its motto is “the truth shall set you free.” 12

Follow My Vote claims that “the more voters a paper-based system attempts to accommodate, the easier it becomes for a fraudster to corrupt.” It has also claimed that paper-based voting systems are not secure, that mail votes get lost, and that electronic voting machines are vulnerable to fraud. 13

The organization advocates for the creation of a fully online and mobile blockchain-based voting system in which voters can cast ballots from personal devices including computers, mobile phones, and tablets. With Follow My Vote’s technology, it claims that voters could change their vote throughout the election cycle, up until when the polls close on Election Day. 14

Follow My Vote has been featured in the left-of-center Huffington Post for running a “parallel presidential election built on an online voting system. Using a webcam and a government-issued ID, voters can remotely and securely log in and vote for their desired candidates.” 15 In 2016, the organization participated in an election-related event organized by the Free and Equal Elections Foundation. 16

Proposed Voting Technology

Follow My Vote promotes its own blockchain-based voting process. In Follow My Vote’s proposed procedures, a voter submits identity information for verification; has his or her identity verified; has his or her information paired with a signature; creates a personal identification number (PIN) with this information; uses the PIN to request a ballot for the voter with the vote key; verifies voting registration requests through these processes, and then allows a voter to cast a ballot. After a ballot is cast, the voter is then able to verify his or her vote with the public key that was issued by Follow My Vote during the voting process. 17

Follow My Vote claims that election results can be audited with its technology after the vote, giving anyone the ability to ensure that all votes were cast, recorded, and counted correctly, without any possibility for fraud to have occurred undetected. 18

Follow My Vote also says a voter can look up his or her vote in the public record to confirm it was cast correctly using a public computer. Using public records, Follow My Vote also says its open-source application can count votes and show voter results instead of trusting election officials in secret. 19 20

The organization says its proposed network of public databases is secure and irreversible and claims that its electronic voting methods are private, censorship-proof to protect voters’ identities, and open-source to protect voting integrity. 21

Follow My Vote has strategic partnerships with the Open Source Initiative, All Elections Shall Be Free and Equal, US Independent Voter Network, and the California Association of Voting Officials. 22 23

Advocacy

Follow My Vote has said that Virginia, Oregon, and California are closest to implementing online voting and could use their technology. The organization met with former Oregon Governor Kate Brown (D) to discuss its technology capabilities for elections in the state. 24

Funding

Follow My Vote receives donations in the form of Bitcoin. 25

In 2021, Follow My Vote received grant funding from the technology company PeerPlays. 26

References

  1. “About Us.” Follow My Vote. Accessed July 31, 2024. https://followmyvote.com/about-us/.
  2. “Blockchain Voting.” Follow My Vote. Accessed August 3, 2024. https://followmyvote.com/blockchain-voting-the-end-to-end-process/.
  3. “Capabilities Slide Deck.” Follow My Vote. Accessed August 4, 2024. https://followmyvote.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Follow-My-Vote.pdf.
  4. Long, Will. “Followmyvote.com Featured on Forbes.” Follow My Vote. Accessed August 3, 2024. https://followmyvote.com/featured-on-forbes-blockchain-voting/.
  5. “The Future of Voting.” Follow My Vote Slide Deck. Follow My Vote. September 2016. Accessed July 31, 2024. https://followmyvote.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Follow-My-Vote.pdf.
  6. “Secure Voting.” WebRoots Democracy. March 2019. Accessed August 3, 2024. https://webrootsdemocracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/secure-voting-second-edition.pdf.
  7. “Instagram Profile.” Follow My Vote. Accessed July 31, 2024. https://www.instagram.com/followmyvote/.
  8. “Team.” Follow My Vote. Accessed July 31, 2024. https://followmyvote.com/team/.
  9. “Follow My Vote CEO’s Raison D’etre.” Follow My Vote. Accessed August 3, 2024. https://followmyvote.com/follow-my-vote-ceos-raison-detre/.
  10. “About.” Follow My Vote LinkedIn Profile. Accessed August 3, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/company/follow-my-vote-inc-/about/.
  11.  “Follow My Vote, Inc.” Crunchbase. Accessed August 3, 2024. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/follow-my-vote-inc.
  12. “About Us.” Follow My Vote. Accessed July 31, 2024. https://followmyvote.com/about-us/
  13.  [1] Long, Will. “Followmyvote.com Featured on Forbes.” Follow My Vote. Accessed August 3, 2024. https://followmyvote.com/featured-on-forbes-blockchain-voting/.
  14. “Blockchain Voting.” Follow My Vote. Accessed August 3, 2024. https://followmyvote.com/blockchain-voting-the-end-to-end-process/.
  15.  Long, Will. “Featured on the Huffington Post.” Follow My Vote. Accessed August 3, 2024. https://followmyvote.com/featured-on-the-huffington-post/.
  16. “Photo.” Free and Equal Elections Foundation. November 10, 2016. Accessed August 3, 2024. https://www.facebook.com/freeandequal/photos/t.100063619088186/10155749753858868/?type=3.
  17. “Capabilities Slide Deck.” Follow My Vote. Accessed August 4, 2024. https://followmyvote.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Follow-My-Vote.pdf.
  18. “Capabilities Slide Deck.” Follow My Vote. Accessed August 4, 2024. https://followmyvote.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Follow-My-Vote.pdf.
  19. “Secure Voting.” WebRoots Democracy. March 2019. Accessed August 3, 2024. https://webrootsdemocracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/secure-voting-second-edition.pdf.
  20. “Capabilities Slide Deck.” Follow My Vote. Accessed August 4, 2024. https://followmyvote.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Follow-My-Vote.pdf.
  21. “Capabilities Slide Deck.” Follow My Vote. Accessed August 4, 2024. https://followmyvote.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Follow-My-Vote.pdf.
  22. “Open Source Initiative.” Follow My Vote. Accessed August 4, 2024 . https://followmyvote.com/tag/open-source-initiative/.
  23. “Capabilities Slide Deck.” Follow My Vote. Accessed August 4, 2024. https://followmyvote.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Follow-My-Vote.pdf.
  24. “Capabilities Slide Deck.” Follow My Vote. Accessed August 4, 2024. https://followmyvote.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Follow-My-Vote.pdf.
  25. “Donate.” Follow My Vote. Accessed July 31, 2024. https://followmyvote.com/donate/.
  26. “Press Releases.” Follow My Vote. July 30, 2021. Accessed August 3, 2024. https://followmyvote.com/press-releases/.
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Follow My Vote


Golden, CA