It all goes back to the George Bush vs Al Gore Election of 2000, which was an extremely controversial election. Ernest’s father was a government contractor and his family was living overseas at the time. His only option was to cast his ballot via the postal mail. On Election Night, as reports of election results came rolling in, the outcome became highly contested and litigation ensued. When the supreme court ultimately ruled to stop a recount taking place in Florida, it made Ernest question what really happened behind the scenes, starting with whether or not his ballot was even counted, and everything about the United States government thereafter. At the age of 18, this was the first election he was allowed to participate in, and his faith in the democratic process was shaken to the core. It was at this moment he identified the problem (the need for a secure end-to-end verifiable voting system to make elections honest/transparent); however, he had no clue how to go about solving it at the time.

Fast forward to 2014, when Ernest learned about the advantages of blockchain technology and how it could be leveraged to develop a secure end-to-end verifiable voting system, we pivoted and this initiative became the sole focus of Follow My Vote’s business operations.

Upon making our plans public, the Pirate Party of Norway took notice, among many others.

The video was recorded in 2015 when Ernest was invited overseas to attend a national summit meeting for the Pirate Party of Norway, where he introduced Follow My Vote’s designs for a secure end-to-end verifiable blockchain-based voting system to Pirate Party members and citizens of Norway. And, the presentation couldn’t have been more well received.

20 years later and the story of US elections has not changed. The 2020 presidential election was just as controversial as the Bush vs Gore election. Donald Trump and Joseph Biden found themselves in an eerily similar position. While the reported results were not as close as the 2000 election, the contest was questioned just as much. Many people simply refused to acknowledge and believe the outcome was true. Even the Trump campaign would not concede to the loss and filed a total of 63 lawsuits in an attempt to overturn the results. Many people are still outraged over the conclusion and accusations have come from both sides. 

“The time has come to solve this problem, once and for all. The technology needed to bring forth this type of solution is within reach. And, the world needs it now more than ever.”

Adam Ernest – Co-Founder and CEO at Follow My Vote

When will we see honest and fair elections? Follow My Vote intends to make secure verifiable mobile blockchain-based voting a reality, so there will be nothing to contest. By using a distributed ledger, all participants will be able to verify the election results themselves and faith will be restored.

If you feel elections can be hosted in a modern and secure way like we do, please join our movement! You can sign up for our supporters list and stay updated on our efforts and progress. We also accept donations (Follow My Vote is a registered public benefit corporation) and we are currently recruiting development help through our Dev Challenge. 

Questions about our technology and software can be answered on our FAQ page and via our contact form. 

The post Follow My Vote CEO’s Raison D’être appeared first on Follow My Vote.

Predicting Our Future is a new podcast about the next revolutions in technology. 

Ernest appeared on EPISODE 9: DISINTERESTED VOTERS & 500,000 ELECTED OFFICIALS.

Listen to the whole episode or skip to 20:15 to hear Ernest explain and discuss using blockchain technology to build open source, end-to-end verifiable voting software:

“In the United States, there are over 500,000 elected officials. In the overwhelming majority of elections, less than half of eligible voters participate, resulting in one of the lowest levels of voter engagement of any Western democracy. In this episode, Andrews asks and tries to answer: What can be done to increase turnout for elections conducted every year in the U.S.? Can the security risks of implementing online voting be overcome? If online voting did become available in the United States, what might it look like? Which companies would be the winners?”

Episode 9 is one of three different episodes covering the issues facing the future of elections. Check them out on predictingourfuture.com:

Episode 7: Can Online Voting Defeat The Broken Electoral College?
Episode 8: Hacking Elections, DDoS Attacks, & Online Voting Around the World
Episode 9: Disinterested Voters & 500,000 Elected Officials

Learn about Follow My Vote’s blockchain voting software.

About the Author: Will Long is the Co-Founder & Marketing Manager of Folow My Vote. 

The post Follow My Vote CEO Discusses Online Voting On Predicting Our Future Podcast appeared first on Follow My Vote.

Ernest will join Frank Atwood of Approval voting, Nate Kaplan of SeePolitical, and Kimberley J Abels of HeadCount.

Topics to be discussed include ballot access, online voting, initiatives, registering to vote and alternative voting methods.

Christina Tobin, Founder of the The Free and Equal Elections Foundation, will moderate the Politicon panel with Jahi from the Hip Hop band PE 2.0 The Next Generation of Public Enemy.

Exhibiting In Politicon’s Democracy Village

Follow My Vote will have a booth in the Democracy Village at Politicon. We will be informing attendees on the ways Follow My Vote is advancing and reforming voting around the world. Additionally we will be educating people about blockchain technology and how our end-to-end verifiable voting software works.

We are also excited to tell people about our parallel election. To fund this demonstration of our platform we are running a Kickstarter. If you support honest elections and believe our voting systems should modernized, please donate.

One of Follow My Vote’s partners, The Free and Equal Elections Foundation, will also be joining us in the Democracy village. Free and Equal will be talking with attendees about their mission to broaden electoral choices through education. The foundation will also be distributing products from their sponsors: Dr. Bronner’s, Marley Coffee, TeaZen , Hearthstone Estate and others.

Democracy Village encompasses a multitude of organizations, vendors, and digital platforms that span both sides of the political spectrum on a variety of issues. Located in the Pasadena Convention Center’s Exhibit Halls A & B, Democracy Village will allow exhibitors the opportunity to promote their business or organization, create displays, and interact with attendees. Last year’s participants included: Rock the Vote, LA County Bicycle Coalition, KRLA, and many more exciting organizations.

What Is Politicon?

Politicon is being called “the unconventional political convention”. The event will take place in Pasadena, California at the Pasadena Convention Center over June 25th and 26th.

Attendees will enjoy a  full weekend of panels, debates, TV and movie screenings, art, podcasts, comedy shows, Q&A’s, book readings, interviews, meet & greets, art exhibitions, and music performances.

Like Follow My Vote, Politicon is a non-partisan organization. The convention is not affiliated with any political organizations, parties or PACS.

Buy Tickets 

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

The post CEO, Adam Ernest, To Participate In Politicon Panel appeared first on Follow My Vote.