A referendum is essentially a yes or no vote to a particular question. (Also a perfect time to use verifiable blockchain voting software)

What does Brexit mean? It is a combination of Britain and exit. 

Here are the pros and cons of the Brexit:

Pros:

If Britain Exits the UK, there will immediately be a savings of  £13 billion dollars which can be reinvested into their economy. They would then be free to establish tariffs and other trade agreements.

The primary reasons people support a brexit is because of sovereignty; few disagree that EU membership involves giving up some control over their affairs. Labour MP Kate Hoey says the EU is “an attempt to replace the democratic power of the people with a permanent administration in the interests of big business.” Those unsatisfied with immigrants moving into the country are more likely to support a brexit, as they would be then free to restrict immigration severely. This in terms would create more jobs for the British people.

Cons:

U.K. Treasury ran an analysis on the situation and showed that the nation would be  “permanently poorer” if they left the E.U. “Productivity and GDP per person would be lower in all these alternative scenarios, as the costs would substantially outweigh any potential benefit of leaving the EU,” the report said. With weaker earnings per person, the U.K. would experience less tax revenue and more social programs would have to be cut. Those losses would grossly outweigh the purported economic benefits that leaving the EU would have. The Bank of England, the International Monetary Fund, and reputed economists have all joined the Treasury in its message that leaving the EU would be a disaster.

However, the effect is not just local. Billions of dollars from international organizations flow through Britain to take advantage of free trade policies enacted throughout the E.U. An exit by Britain can cause these organizations to lose some of their profit, and be less incentivized to invest in the region. In 2014, American direct investment into the EU totaled about 1.81 trillion euros, and about 1.99 trillion euros flowed in the opposite direction, according to the European Commission.

About the author: David Brock is a Marketing Intern at Follow My Vote.

The post Brexit: The Rundown appeared first on Follow My Vote.

Follow My Vote contributed an entire chapter in the report addressing questions pertaining to voter verification, safeguards against cyber-attacks and malware, audit trails, and securing voter records.

This report is good news for proponents of online voting. When conversing with people about online voting software, oftentimes one of the first questions asked is: is it secure?  We now have a report that shows exactly how online voting can be secure. All skeptics must read this report before presenting arguments against open source end-to-end verifiable online voting.  We invite you to read the report for yourself and share it with your friends.

[button href=”https://followmyvote.com/secure-voting-report/” title=”Title” target=”blank” shape=”rounded” size=”large” block=”true” circle=”false” icon_only=”true” info=”popover, tooltip” info_place=”top, right, bottom, left” info_trigger=”hover, click, focus” info_content=”This content will only show up if you have decided to show a popover.”] Read Secure Voting: A guide to secure #onlinevoting in elections [/button]

Press Release:

Follow My Vote, Inc.

Blacksburg, VA

January 26, 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOLLOW MY VOTE AND WEBROOTS DEMOCRACY RELEASE SECURE VOTING REPORT IN COMBINATION WITH VERIZON, SCYTL, EVERYONE COUNTS, AND OTHERS.

Blacksburg, VA — WebRoots Democracy, in partnership with Follow My Vote and other industry leading experts, has released a report entitled “Secure Voting: A guide to secure #onlinevoting in elections.” The purpose of the report, which was written by global experts and authoritative academics, is to explore and document the possible security models for online voting software. “We think the use of blockchain technology could be the security breakthrough that makes online voting viable.” states Nathan Hourt, Co-Founder and CTO at Follow My Vote.

With the information provided in the report, governments around the world can now make informed decisions on how to move forward with modernizing their election processes. The Secure Voting report was preceded by the WebRoots Democracy report, Viral Voting.

The following companies and people contributed to the WebRoots Democracy Secure Voting report: Follow My Vote, Verizon, Dr. Kevin Curran, Professor Robert Krimmer, Scytl, Smartmatic, Everyone Counts, Electoral Reform Services, and Mi-Voice.

“We are humbled by the opportunity to demonstrate our expertise in designing secure, open- source, end-to-end verifiable online voting software on a global level,” states Adam Kaleb Ernest, Co-Founder and CEO at Follow My Vote.

See the official Follow My Vote website for more information on the Secure Voting report: https://followmyvote.com.

###

Contact Follow My Vote:

contact@followmyvote.com

2020 Kraft Drive

Suite 3050

Blacksburg, VA 24060

(reach out to us if you know of a website or organization that would like to host a Follow My Vote press release)
About the author: Will Long is the Marketing Manager of Follow My Vote.

The post Follow My Vote And WebRoots Democracy Release Secure Voting Report appeared first on Follow My Vote.

1. President of Liberland, Vít Jedlička announced that Follow My Vote will serve as the beta voting system for the newly established Micro-nation.  But why was the President of Liberland at Web Summit? To put it simply, Vít was our guest of honor. The Free Republic of Liberland is located next to the Danube River between Croatia and Serbia. Read more about Liberland.

“Liberland aims to be the front-runner for all technological improvements that make citizens lives easier. That is why we chose to be the first users of Follow My Vote.”

-Vít Jedlička, President of Liberland

2. We exhibited our technology on the 5th of November, which played quite nicely into our plans. We donned Guy Fawkes masks and announced our 2016 Presidential parallel election. Perhaps your have heard the phrase “Remember, remember the 5th of November”. This phrase refers to the act Guy Fawkes attempted and its role in the movie V for Vendetta. At our exhibition booth, we announced that, in one year’s time, we will be holding an election in parallel to the United States Presidential Election.  The Guy Fawkes masks created a lot of buzz and brought droves of interested conference attendees over to our booth. Read our parallel election announcement.

3. We heard great talks from prominent leaders and captains of industry from all around the world, including one of the co-founders of Kickstarter, Yancey Strickler . It doesn’t matter what your specialty is, there was a talk for you. We featured our favorite talks on social media with pictures. Make sure you follow us and see our posts.

4. We got a huge amount of exposure, with thousands of people visiting our website throughout the week of the conference. The day we exhibited, we had the most visitors ever to our website. How cool is that!? So if your wondering if you should go to Web Summit next year, just know that if you play your cards right and prepare properly, you can get tons of exposure for your business. Tickets are already on sale for next year!

5. We launched our new animated explainer video!

We got some of our own footage as well! Check out the view of downtown Dublin and our exhibit at Web Summit:

Thanks to everyone who made Web Summit 2015 a fantastic event! Check our Facebook album for all the pictures from the event.

About the author: Will Long is the Marketing Manager of Follow My Vote.

The post Success Is An Understatement: Follow My Vote & Liberland At Web Summit 2015 appeared first on Follow My Vote.

Allow us first to apologize for this interruption. We do, like many of you, appreciate the comfort of everyday routine, the security of the familiar, the tranquility of repetition. We enjoy them as much as any man or woman. But in the spirit of commemoration, whereupon important events of the past, usually associated with someone’s death or the end of some awful bloody struggle, are celebrated with a nice holiday, We thought we could mark this November the 5th, a day that is sadly no longer remembered, by taking some time out of our daily lives to sit down and have a little chat.

There are, of course, those who do not want us to speak. Why? Because while the baton may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth.

And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this world, isn’t there?

Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who’s to blame?

Well, certainly, there are those who are more responsible than others. But, truth be told, if you’re looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror.

We know why you did it. We know you were afraid. Who wouldn’t be?

War, terror, disease. They were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you, and in your panic you turned to your government.

They promised you order, they promised you peace, and all they demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent.

Today, we seek to end that silence. Today, we’d like to remind this world of what it has forgotten. More than 400 years ago, a citizen wished to embed the 5^th of November forever in our memory. His hope was to remind the world that fairness, justice, and freedom are more than words, they are perspectives.

So if you’ve seen nothing, if these acts of our governments remain unknown to you, then we would suggest that you allow the 5^th of November to pass unmarked.

But if you see what we see, if you feel as we feel, and if you would seek as we seek, then we ask you to stand beside us, one year from today, and together we shall give the world a 5^th of November that shall never, ever be forgot.” – V

The above quote is a paraphrased excerpt from the movie V for Vendetta, which refers to a man named Guy Fawkes, whom, in 1605, had an idea and attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament to send a message to his fellow citizens that their government had become all too powerful and corrupt, and that the government ultimately needed to be put in their place.

When reflecting on this moment in history, we are told to remember the idea and not the man. Because man can fail. He can be caught. He can be killed and forgotten. But 410 years later, an idea can still change the world.

At Follow My Vote, we hear from people, old and young, that secure and verifiable online voting is an idea whose time has come. What you may not know is that the people are our customers and we aim to give the people what they want.

To this end, we have come up with a better, more secure, convenient, and honest way to cast your vote. We are leveraging blockchain technology, in combination with elliptic curve cryptography, to build the online voting platform of the future.

The people have spoken. The people want and demand the ability to freely vote online, securely, privately, with integrity and from their own device.

It is time… to catch up with the times and bring voting into the 21^st century. But, most importantly, it’s time to begin voting with integrity.

Our integrity sells for so little these days, but it is all we really have. It is the very last inch of us, but within that inch, we are free. We must never lose it or give it away. We must never let them take it from us.

Therefore, Follow My Vote has decided to promote truth and freedom by taking the liberty of sponsoring a presidential election of our own in parallel to the United States Presidential Election of 2016, using a provably honest online voting system.

When you really sit down and think about it, what makes a voting system legitimate is whether or not the people decide to use it.

Voters that freely choose to cast a vote within the Follow My Vote’s parallel election will be choosing to do the right thing. Voters will be choosing to take a stand for what they believe in, to voice their support for using a voting system that has integrity, one that can be trusted because voters can count their vote with their own eyes.

When the “We the People” vote using our software, they can follow their vote into the transparent, blockchain-based ballot box to ensure that their vote was cast and intended and counted as cast. In this way, the people that vote using our voting software will be choosing honesty and transparency over secrecy and opacity. Ultimately, voters that vote in our system will be choosing to be a part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

We want to be clear that we at Follow My Vote do not advocate blowing up any buildings, or any other kind of aggressive action. While we strongly believe that people should not be afraid of their governments; rather, that governments should fear the people, we are also strict adherents to the Non-Aggression Principle and we recognize that violent action will not help us to achieve greater freedom. We seek only to remind our governments that they operate only with the express consent of the governed, and to empower the people to declare their consent clearly, as the way voting is done today does not fulfill this requirement.

We are well aware that upon reading this, there will be many of those that doubt us. There are those that may ask us, do we really think that voting in one parallel election will make this world a better place?

To those that doubt us, we must answer by saying there is no certainty, only opportunity. A parallel election is a symbol, as is the act of voting in it. Symbols are given power by the people. Alone a symbol is meaningless, but with enough people… voting in a parallel election can change the world.

We know there’s no way we can convince you that this is not one of their tricks, but we don’t care…

We are Follow My Vote. We are blockchain agnostic. We are government agnostic. We are worldwide.

One thing we can promise you is that, this is in no way, shape or form an attempt to create chaos, cause rioting in the streets, or insight violence in any way. This should not to be considered an act of terrorism or treason; if anything, this should be considered an act of patriotism.

To be clear, we are not suggesting that anyone attempt to overthrow their own government, nor have we planted any bombs to blow up any buildings anywhere. The only thing we hope to blow is the minds of “We the People” when they get to experience voting for the President of the United States from their smartphones for the first time.

You may ask us, why haven’t we stepped forward until now? The answer is that we simply didn’t have the solution to the problem, but now that we do, all we need is you.

The question you have to ask yourself is “How do I want to be remembered on the 5^th of November?” The choice is yours and yours alone to make. We cannot make it for you. This may be the most important moment in your life. Believe you me, if you want to be on the right side of history, the answer is easy…

Stand with us in 2016, on the 5^th of November, and together we shall give the world a fifth of November that shall never, ever be forgot.

On this day, the 5^th of November of 2015, Following My Vote will be exhibiting at Web Summit 2015, a global tech conference attended by several startups that are leveraging technology to make this world a better place. At this conference, we will be formally announcing our plans to start a transparency movement that will stand the test of time.

If you don’t live in the United States, don’t worry, there are several ways that you can get involved and take part in this movement. For instance, we have just launched an official ambassadors program and are looking to recruit agents of change, those that want to live in an open and honest world. If you think you think you would be a good fit for this program, please visit our ambassadors program page for more info!

The post Remember, remember the 5th of November appeared first on Follow My Vote.

Voter apathy plagues all kinds of democracies around the world. WebRoots democracy aims to reverse this growing trend in the UK by campaigning for online voting. The organization currently informs people about new and innovative voting technologies. They also aim to keep citizens updated as to the legislation and support for online voting in the UK.

The WebRoots Democracy blog is very informative, covering all the advancements regarding online voting in the UK. They are also on Facebook and Twitter. We encourage you to follow them to support online voting in the UK.

One of the biggests ways WebRoots Democracy has helped the online voting movement is through the production of a report called Viral Voting. This report is a culmination of over a year’s worth of research on the potential implementation of different options for online voting in the UK.  Here are some of the key findings in the report:

The key estimated impacts are:

• An online voting option could boost turnout in a General Election by up to 9 million, increasing turnout to 79%.
• An online voting option could boost youth voter turnout in a General Election by up to 1.8 million, increasing turnout to 70%.
• An online voting option could reduce the cost per vote by a third and provide long-term savings of £12.8 million.
• An online voting option could reduce the number of accidentally spoilt ballots cast.
• An online voting option could allow vision impaired voters to cast a secret ballot, a human right which they may be denied due to current inaccessible methods of voting.

Follow My Vote supports what WebRoots Democracy is doing and encourages you to follow them to stay updated on the status of online voting in the UK.

About the author: Will Long is the Marketing Manager of Follow My Vote.

The post WebRoots Democracy Is Changing The Game For Online Voting In The UK appeared first on Follow My Vote.

The Article covered several aspects of Liberland. The first aspect being how the land was claimed. Liberland is a three square mile plot of land that runs along the Danube River. The land was once a part of Serbia before the Danube was re-engineered to be straighter and deeper for improved travel of larger boats. Originally the Danube had provided a natural border for both Croatia and Serbia. Liberland is a plot of land that ended up being separated from Serbia after the river was rerouted. This is how the plot became terra nullius or no man’s land. Vit Jedlicka saw this a prime opportunity to seize land for his aspirations of a libertarian paradise.

The NY Times article also discussed the President of the new micronation. Vit Jedlicka was described as a different kind of leader than others who had tried and failed to start micronations. And it pointed out the fact the he had actually discovered and claimed land that was genuinely no man’s land.

The article went on to cover the background of the President, how he founded the land and some of the main principles he lives by.

Diplomacy and the Liberland Settlement Association were also a hot topic. Liberland is still fighting for recognition around the world and their diplomacy efforts are discussed in the article. The Liberland Settlement Association is a group that has challenged Vit Jedlicka’s Presidency. The Liberland Settlement Association (LSA) is actually a limited liability company incorporated in Switzerland. Their Leader is a Bitcoin trader by the name of Niklas Nikolajsen. The LSA deems Liberland not libertarian enough and hopes to one day take over the leadership of the micronation.

The article reads much like a story. The author is very descriptive. The President is described like this:

The President is a sturdy man of thickening athletic build, with blond hair and a reddish blond goatee that diminishes up his high-colored cheeks into blond peach fuzz and then asserts itself anew as bright blond bushy eyebrows over long platinum lashes. He is a soft spoken, gentle ruler, well mannered and with a schoolboyish eagerness to please.

Overall the micronation of Liberland is off to a great start and the article is only helping. Hundreds of thousands of citizenship applications have already been received. Jedlicka has asserted that any exposure, good or bad is good for Liberland and will help the cause. The article is quite lengthy, but it’s a good read and by the looks of it you better brush up on your Liberland knowledge. Because everyone is talking about the newest micronation and it’s leader.

Source:  NY Times.

(The featured picture is of President Jedlicka with the CEO and Founder of Follow My Vote, Adam Ernest. It was taken at Freedom Fest 2015. Read about here!)

About the author: Will Long is the Marketing Manager of Follow My Vote.

The post Liberland: The Micronation That Continues To Attract Attention From All Over The World. appeared first on Follow My Vote.

In the United States, we constantly hold elections: Every two years, we elect a new Congress and, in many states, a new legislature.  Every four years, that’s combined with a presidential election.  Some jurisdictions squeeze local balloting – for sheriff, school board, judge, coroner, you name it – into the years between midterm congressional and presidential elections.  Of course, these are often twice-a-year exercises, since a primary precedes the general election.  Some primaries have runoffs!

Switzerland is the world’s closest approximation of a direct democracy, meaning that the people vote directly on policies and other directives.  Direct democracy is said to be the purest form of democracy that puts the maximum amount of power in the hands of the people.  However, like the United States, the Swiss vote more on average, with at least three or four national votes per year in addition to regional elections.  So how low is voter turnout in both countries?

A mere 49.1% of registered Swiss voters cast ballot sin the 2011 parliamentary elections.  That was admittedly higher than the 41.6% rate in the 2010 U.S. midterm election, but both figures were below the rates recorded in other Western European countries, which typically exceed 75% for their less-frequent elections.

To explain the slumping voter turnout, scholars cite what is known as “voter fatigue”.  In theory, frequent elections are designed to maximize the people’s power over the government and to force the voting public to stay informed.  James Madison himself claimed that voting for the House of Representatives every other year would ensure “immediate dependence on, and an intimate sympathy with, the people.”  In practice, however, frequent elections create barriers for those who would like to be active and informed voters but do not have the time or money to do so.

Both President Obama and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton have devised methods of encouraging Americans to vote more, with Obama backing compulsory voting and Clinton basing her platform on reforms for national automatic voter registration.

Regardless of who end up occupying the White House in 2016, it’s clear that changes need to be made.  One solution that is quickly gaining favor is online voting.  The ability to vote remotely lowers transportation and time barriers, and provides a platform for voters to wisely invest their time in learning about the candidates.  What do you think, should we simply vote less to vote more, or should we implement online voting as a solution to low voter turnout?

Read More Here

The post Vote More to Vote Less appeared first on Follow My Vote.

Recently, Tsipras decided to put the power directly in the hands of the people via a national Greek referendum.  Eurozone leaders watched impassively as 60% of Greeks voted against accepting the bailout proposal, and instead to send the negotiators back to the drawing board.  While the outcome of their vote isn’t surprising, how they voted is.

The video shows a group of what are presumed to be poll officials first dumping a box of votes onto a pair of side-by-side tables, and then gathering the votes by hand into ambiguous piles.  This methodology is troubling, as the economic crisis has polarized the Greek people and there are embittered advocates in both the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ camps.  Between the harsh austerity measures which Greeks have labored under for years, and Tsipras’ highly influential campaign for a ‘no’ vote in the Greek referendum, it is not unthinkable that a well-meaning poll worker abused his or her position to unduly influence the vote.  So while investors around the world waited nervously for the outcome of the referendum,  3,558,450 votes were cast and shoddily hand-counted.

This is just one of many situations in which online voting software, like Follow My Vote’s, would have delivered a faster, more trustworthy, and transparent election result and expedited a negotiation process which has been a cause of much anxiety for global investors and spiked volatility in European markets.  Put simply, the fact that such archaic voting methods were used in a decision as important as the Greek referendum underscores the need for more modern voting practices; especially in a globalized world where the decisions of a handful of Greeks affects not only the Greek economy but that of the entire world.

The post Questionable Voting Practices in the Greek Referendum? You Decide. appeared first on Follow My Vote.

But the Pirate Party in one country in particular has exceeded all expectations, with two separate polls currently estimating them to have garnered 35% of the vote.

Iceland’s Píratar party, itself a spin-off of Sweden’s Pirates, has shot up in recent opinion polls, to the extent that, according to two recent surveys, they would even be the most popular party if elections were held today.

Political analysts are still uncertain whether the Pirate’s success in disrupting the status quo is only a phase or represents a more permanent trend. Regardless, their recent electoral popularity is sure to cause some waves in the Icelandic parliament, called Althing, especially in the department of cryptocurrencies.  

One topic of conversation will surely be the legality of cryptocurrencies, as Iceland placed an outright ban on cryptocurrencies late in 2014.  Generally speaking, Pirate Parties are in favor of cryptocurrencies, and the recent success of the Finnish Pirate Party in funding campaigns with Bitcoin will certainly motivate their Icelandic counterparts to bring the cryptocurrency discussion back to the table.

Read more about Iceland’s Pirate Party here. Note: Follow My Vote is a non-partisan organization. We do not endorse any political party.

The post Pirate Party Popularity Explodes In Iceland appeared first on Follow My Vote.

The Details

Formerly referred to as “Gornjia Siga,” the self-declared sovereign state is located on 3 sq mil between Croatia and Serbia. Vít Jedlička, regional party leader of one of the Czech Republic’s northern districts, seized the opportunity in response to the Croatian and Serbian border dispute. The boundary was defined so as not to interfere with the territory borders of either Croatia or Serbia.

Liberland was founded on the principles of personal and economic freedom, and has drafted a Constitution that severely limits the power of politicians. Their motto is “To Live and Let Live.” According to the wikipedia page, Jedlička did this with support from his own political party, as well as the Civic Democratic Party and the Pirate Party.

The Government

The tiny new state has outlined a very liberal government structure, starting with the government size: suggested 10-20 members. According to the official website, the only people who are not eligible for application are communists, neonazzis, and extremists. Liberland wants to promote honesty and righteousness without being burdened by taxes and regulations.

The proposed government is three-powered, with legislative, executive, and judicial branches that all seek to promote individual rights. The drafted Constitution outlines such crimes as manslaughter, theft, and “polluting environment.”

Reception

According to The Verge, Jedlička, the country’s president, makes the infant nation seem like an experiment. The country was formed as a way to “find out the minimum amount of taxes and regulation needed to live.” The article goes on to say, “Any services or civic institutions — firefighters, banks, cell phone service — will be provided on a strictly volunteer basis. If you were going to sketch out a libertarian paradise, this is basically what it would look like.”

From the Washington Post, who got their information from local news sources and Liberland’s facebook page, Jedlička was recently detained when trying to enter the two-month old state. Even though the 7 sq km was formerly a terra nullius, no-man’s-land, neither of the bordering countries are willing to let anyone in, including the president. Jedlička previously tried to enter Liberland by boat from Serbia, and was returned to the Serbian coast by guards.

Becoming A Part

It isn’t difficult to apply for citizenship. The qualifications required, listed on the official websited, are

• have respect for other people and respect the opinions of others, regardless of their race, ethnicity, orientation, or religion
• have respect for private ownership which is untouchable
• do not have communist, nazi or other extremist past
• were not punished for past criminal offenses

If you meet these qualifications and are interested in a place where taxes are voluntary and a military is nonexistent, you can fill out and submit an application electronically.

Liberland is currently accepting donations to help get the country off the ground, including Bitcoin.

News and Updates.

If you are interested in more Liberland content see our post on the Petition To Establish U.S. Diplomatic Relations With Liberland.

The President of Liberland recently visited the US and made a pit-stop at Freedom Fest 2015. Follow My Vote Founder and CEO, Adam Ernest was able to meet with President Jedlička at Freedom Fest.

Check out the picture above and the video below, which are both from the event, and make sure to see our post on Freedom Fest 2015 for the full coverage of the conference and Liberland interaction.

About the Author: Maggie Vaillant is a content creator and editor for Follow My Vote. She is committed to making as much information available to the world about the world as possible.

The post The Beginning Of Liberland appeared first on Follow My Vote.