In reality, all of us at Follow My Vote just want an election where we don’t have to pick the least of the worst. Learn about other voting methods such as ranked choice here. 

About Follow My Vote

Follow My Vote is dedicated to starting an end-to-end verifiable voting platform using blockchain technology that will help end voter fraud and voter suppression. If you’re interested in supporting our cause and honest elections, please consider supporting our Kickstarter.

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

The post Hillary Clinton has won the DC Primary appeared first on Follow My Vote.

It is expected that Hillary Clinton will win the DC primary because of her ability to attract the majority of minority voters. Sanders has not been able to overcome this, and in every contest where the state had a large minority presence, he has lost. DC has a population of  672,220 people, with only a 40.6% white population. Based on previous contests it is safe to say that Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic Nominee.

It’s amazing to think that just over a year ago, Bernie Sanders declared his candidacy. Since then, he rose from being a fringe candidate to a candidate who has pulled the democratic discussion to the left and has garnered over 12 million votes. Sanders supporters have frequently said that number should be higher, but because of voter suppression and voter fraud it is trailing Hillary’s. There is some truth to that statement though, as reports have surfaced that there was voter fraud in California. If you’re interested in that, click here.

About Follow My Vote

Follow My Vote is dedicated to starting an end-to-end verifiable voting platform using blockchain technology that will help end voter fraud and voter suppression. If you’re interested in supporting our cause and honest elections, please consider supporting our Kickstarter.

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

The post DC Primary Predictions and Polling appeared first on Follow My Vote.

On the democratic side of things, it’s getting a bit interesting. An article by Phillip Bump of the Washington Post  published earlier this month shows that Bernie Sanders would need over 90.8% of the vote in the upcoming primaries for him to win the Democratic nomination without the help of Clinton’s super-delegates. Even with her super-delegates split proportionally, Bernie Sanders would need 67.6% of the vote in the future primaries to win the nomination. Luckily,  the Washington primary provided him with a landslide of a win, earning him 74 of the 101 available delegates. He was able to garner over 72.7% of the vote in the state. Even though Bernie is unlikely to win the nomination simply due to the Democrat’s process of proportional delegation, he still has a couple of tricks up his sleeve.

Today, the Washington Post was able to get a glimpse of the Inspector General’s report on the legality of Hillary Clinton’s email servers.

The State Department’s independent watchdog has issued a highly critical analysis of Hillary Clinton’s email practices while running the department, concluding that she failed to seek legal approval for her use of a private email server and that department staff would not have given its blessing because of the “security risks in doing so.”

Rosalind S. Helderman – Washington Post

Keeping this in mind, when the FBI finishes their investigation they might choose to indict her. This may be Bernie’s best chance for winning the nomination but only time can tell.

Backtracking to the primaries before the Washington primary

Oregon

Donald Trump won with 66% of the vote (18 Delegates)

Bernie Sanders won with 56% of the vote (34 Delegates)

Kentucky

Donald Trump won with 35.9% of the vote (17 Delegates)

Hillary Clinton Won with 46.8% of the vote compared to Bernie Sanders 46.3% of the vote (each got 27 Delegates)

Breaking News: Bernie Sanders has requested a Kentucky Primary recanvass. (This is not the same as a recall)  In his filing this Tuesday, Sanders requested a full check and recanvass of every voting machine. This includes absentee ballots and machines from all precincts in the counties. A Sanders aide was quoted in the Huffington Post saying:

“I think the point is just transparency, it’s not just about Kentucky,” Sanders aide Larry Cohen said on CNN. “It’s about trying to create a context, now and at the (Democratic) convention, that these primaries and caucuses need transparency, they need to be authentic, they need to build confidence among voters, particularly younger voters, that this is not rigged.”

We completely support the pursuit of transparency, however Sanders and his campaign will likely be sorely disappointed. Current voting machines are extremely faulty and can be easily hacked. They are not built to be transparent like a blockchain voting system. 

West Virginia

Donald Trump won with 77% of the vote (30 delegates)

Bernie Sanders won with 51% of the vote (18 delegates)

Nebraska

Donald Trump won with 61% of the vote  (36 delegates)

Bernie Sanders won with 57.1% of the vote (15 delegates)

Make sure you are signed up to vote in our parallel election! We are demonstrating the security and transparency of our blockchain voting software. You don’t want to miss out!

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

The post May Primary Synopsis And An Extensive Analysis Of The Washington Primary Results appeared first on Follow My Vote.

Bernie Sanders criticized the voting process of the New York primary (which he lost big) on Wednesday https://t.co/iUVsqRBwMp

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) April 20, 2016

“Calls began flooding in early this morning to New York-based ABC affiliate WGRZ with reports of voting machines across the state switching votes entered for Democrat Bernie Sanders to his establishment counterpart Hillary Clinton. The station has spoken with multiple witnesses and is in the process of verifying statements from voters Upstate (districts 20, 21, 22 and 24) as well as two of the five boroughs (Bronx and Manhattan).”

– PoliticsForum

“Meanwhile, the state Attorney General’s office said its voter hotline received the most calls in its history Tuesday.

The hotline received 562 calls and about 140 emails from voters as of 5 p.m. The most common complaints were from voters who were told they weren’t registered to vote or that they couldn’t participate in a party’s presidential primaries. Other complaints ranged from lack of privacy, unclear instructions and accessibility issues.”

– Stefan Holt, NBC New York

Reports of voter fraud and purged voter rolls have led to an audit of New York City’s Board of Elections. More than 100,000 Democratic voters in Brooklyn (New York holds closed primaries) were purged from the voting roll. On top of that, some New Yorkers reported that poll workers attempted to coerce them into voting for Clinton over Sanders. Others simply complained of long lines and broken voting machines.

The New York Post reported similar issues in Brooklyn where thousands of people experienced trouble at their polling location. Mayor Bill de Blasio and Bertha Lewis, director of the Black Institute, have both called for an investigation. However, the Board of Elections Executive said this vanishing act is easily explained…

“Board of Elections Executive Director Michael Ryan said the mystery is easily explained: Because of retirements and staff illness, the voting list was not properly maintained in Brooklyn for six to eight months.”

– Yoav Gonen and Carl Campanile, New York Post

Regardless of what the investigation reveals, we can do so much better. In a city as vast and bustling as New York, citizens could reap the benefits of blockchain voting. New Yorkers could enjoy complete anonymity and follow the election in real-time. If the Democratic Party of New York would have used blockchain voting, any concerned voter could audit election results to ensure election fraud was eliminated.

At Follow My Vote, we envision an open source, end-to-end verifiable voting system. If you believe that blockchain voting can eliminate voter fraud and bring honest elections to the world, check out our crowdfunding campaign going on right now! Help us make history in 2016.

About the author: Tyler Molihan is a Marketing Intern at Follow My Vote. He hopes to increase awareness about the benefits of online voting systems.

The post Election Fraud in New York Primary? appeared first on Follow My Vote.

Democratic Party

Clinton was heavily favored in southern states like North Carolina and Florida going into Tuesday, and by all means met and exceeded those expectations. Clinton took 64 percent of the vote in Florida and 55 percent in North Carolina. In a more tightly contested race, she also took Illinois with 50 percent of the vote. Perhaps the most surprising part of Tuesday’s Democratic primaries was how easily Clinton took Ohio. Many expected Clinton to have serious contention from Sanders in this key state, but she took one of her biggest wins of the night with 57 percent of the vote. Since the Democratic primary process does not award delegates in a winner-take-all format, Clinton still only came away with 364 delegates, as Missouri is still too close to call, pushing her total to 1,599.

Sanders had a very disappointing night as he did not win a single state. Again, Missouri has not been officially called yet. However, Sanders is truly running out of time if he wants to catch up with Clinton. Sanders still took home 264 delegates, but his total is only at 844. Essentially, Sanders will have to win often and decisively from here on out.

“Sanders will go on from this Tuesday of voting. He will continue to raise money. There will be states to come that Sanders will probably win. His movement will continue on. But, running a serious national campaign designed to influence the eventual nominee is a very different thing from running a serious national campaign to be the nominee.”

– Chris Cillizza, Washington Post

Republican Party

Trump continued his dominance on Tuesday night collecting Florida, Illinois, and North Carolina. His one disappointment? Ohio. Trump would all but have locked up the Republican nomination if he had taken Ohio last night. Like the Democratic primary, Missouri is still too close to call for Trump as he leads by a razor thin margin in Missouri. Nonetheless, he still sits in a strong position to become the party’s nominee after picking up 177 delegates, with a total of 646.

Then there were three. The biggest surprise of the night was Rubio’s poor showing in the field, and specifically in his home state of Florida. Rubio had promised that he would take his home state, but was beaten badly by Trump by a 46-27 percent margin. In his concession speech, Rubio suspended his campaign. Other than being locked in a tight battle for Missouri, Cruz did nothing to make up ground on Trump only collecting 27 new delegates. Kasich foiled Trump in his home state of Ohio, but faces a nearly impossible gap in delegates at this point in the race.

“The Republican Party, meanwhile, veered closer to a contested convention after Kasich held his own state and deprived Trump of its 66 delegates. That makes it more difficult for the billionaire to reach the 1,237 delegates he needs to capture the GOP prize.”

– Stephen Collinson, CNN Politics

Finally, there has been growing chatter about a contested convention, as the Republican establishment are no big fans of Trump. Essentially, if no candidate reaches the threshold of 1,237 delegates, a contested convention would occur in July. This means that despite Trump holding a delegate lead, the party could nominate a new candidate to represent the party in the 2016 race. There is much to happen still in the coming months, but right now this race is Trump’s to lose.

At Follow My Vote, we envision an open source, end-to-end verifiable voting system. Vote where you count, and sign up below for the 2016 Parallel Presidential Election. Help us make history in 2016.

About the author: Tyler Molihan is a Marketing Intern at Follow My Vote. He hopes to increase awareness about the benefits of online voting systems.

The post Clinton and Trump Continue to Pull Away in 2016 Race for the White House appeared first on Follow My Vote.

With the loss, the Sanders campaign will now have an uphill battle with many states left to go. He has incredibly been held afloat by grassroots funding and his enormous popularity with younger voters.

“Even if he doesn’t prevail, Sanders has been the stone against which Clinton has honed and sharpened her own candidacy. Even just having to debate him, having to work harder to explain her positions and connect with voters, has made Hillary Clinton a better candidate.”

– Sally Kohn, CNN Politics

Clinton’s landslide victory in South Carolina bodes well for her prospects in the remaining Southern states. Both candidates head into Super Tuesday with 21% of delegates on the line. It isn’t all but certain that Tuesday will tell us which Democratic candidate will be the nominee. However, it will take a strong showing from Sanders to not make the gap in delegates seem insurmountable.

At Follow My Vote, we envision an open source, end-to-end verifiable voting system. Vote where you count, and sign up below for the 2016 Parallel Presidential Election. Help us make history in 2016.

About the author: Tyler Molihan is a Marketing Intern at Follow My Vote. He hopes to increase awareness about the benefits of online voting systems.

The post South Carolina Democratic Primary: Clinton’s Landslide Victory Over Sanders appeared first on Follow My Vote.

Democratic Party

The Nevada Democratic Caucus saw Hillary Clinton win on Saturday, taking 19 delegates to Sanders 15. This is an important win for Clinton who has been challenged in every state by Sanders. As it stands, Clinton needs more decisive victories like this to solidify her standing as the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination.

Republican Party

It was Donald Trump who won big in South Carolina’s Republican Primary on Saturday. Trump took 32.5% of the vote and all 50 delegates that were up for grabs. Rubio and Cruz came in second and third respectively, with 22% each. Trump’s win solidifies him as the true frontrunner in the Republican party, with Cruz and Rubio making it a 3-man race. Perhaps the bigger story coming out of South Carolina was Jeb Bush suspending his campaign. He had struggled to gain ground throughout his campaign, after being considered the man to beat this past Fall. It will be interesting to see which candidate his supporters decide to back in the coming weeks.

“Trump now looks even more formidable as he enters the 13 Super Tuesday states — once he has navigated the Nevada GOP caucuses Tuesday — with contests looming in places like Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia and Texas where he polls consistently well.”

– CNN Politics

Up Next: The parties will flip states this week, with the Nevada Republican Caucus on February 23. Also, be sure to tune in to CNN’s Republican Debate on February 25. The South Carolina Democratic Primary will be held on February 27.

About the author: Tyler Molihan is a Marketing Intern at Follow My Vote. He hopes to increase awareness about the benefits of online voting systems.

The post 2016 Presidential Race: Trump Wins South Carolina Decisively appeared first on Follow My Vote.

While normal delegates are assigned based on popular vote, superdelegates are party insiders and get to vote for who they think will help advance the interests of the party. Superdelegates are the electoral college of the primary system.

Let’s look at the numbers from New Hampshire’s Democratic Primary. Sanders won the popular vote by an overwhelming 22-point margin. This is the largest landslide in a primary since the days of JFK. Because of the landslide victory, Sanders had won 13 delegates to Clinton’s 9. It appeared that Sanders had taken the majority of the popular vote and delegates home on Tuesday night. However, in the past couple of days, the votes of New Hampshire’s superdelegates have shown that Clinton has not only drawn even at 13 with Sanders, but will actually surpass him with 15. What was a 13-9 delegate count in favor of Sanders will now be 15-13 in favor of Clinton.

“The Democratic nomination will be determined by 4,763 total delegates — 4,051 chosen by the voters and 712 who fit the “super” category.”

– Jeff Stein, Vox.com

712 votes does not seem like a significant number on its face. However, when you consider that Clinton already has 431 delegates to Sanders 52, the party elites seem to have already decided who their candidate will be. Party politics, as usual.

In the Republican Primary, Donald Trump took the majority of votes with 35 percent. While New Hampshire clearly preferred the “non-establishment” candidates, it will be interesting to see if the rest of the country follows suit. However, as a normal voter, it has to be disheartening to see party elites voting in direct opposition to the people.

Chalk up the issue of superdelegates to the list of the problems with party-led primaries. Vote where you count in 2016 and register for FMV’s Parallel Election to show that the voice of the people is more important than a few party elites.

About the author: Tyler Molihan is a Marketing Intern at Follow My Vote. He hopes to increase awareness about the benefits of online voting systems.

The post Party Politics vs. The People: Did the New Hampshire Primary Just Expose a Crack in Our Broken Primary System? appeared first on Follow My Vote.

Follow My Vote is happy to see the idea of voter suppression back in the news, as it offers a great opportunity to educate law makers of ground breaking technology available that could make voter suppression a non-issue. We know that there are much better and technological ways to increase voter turnout without sacrificing the integrity of the entire system.

Hillary Clinton knows she won’t be able to count on the more than 60 million votes that Barack Obama secured to win the White House in both 2008 and 2012. Instead of wallowing in self pity, Clinton’s campaign has come up with a game plan to make sure that the former Secretary of State’s path to the coronation remains unblemished: expanding the electorate. On May 29, Marc Elias, the lead lawyer for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, was among those who filed a lawsuit in Wisconsin challenging the state’s voter-ID law. The suit claims that the law, passed under Clinton’s likely 2016 rival Governor Scott Walker, suppresses voting rights:

The post Hillary Aims to Tear Down ID Laws to Increase Voter Turnout appeared first on Follow My Vote.

Fast forward six months and it seems to be all the media is talking about these days. And, we’re here to say, it’s ok! Talk away!!

The post Too Soon? appeared first on Follow My Vote.