Actual Vote

The Actual Vote app doesn't represent a government entity. America Counts, the makers of this app, also are not a government entity.

Poll tapes are long strips of paper printed during the vote counting procedure by election tabulating machines. They contain tabulated vote totals for a given precinct and voting method. There are many situations in which the general public may legally view such poll tapes and the information they contain. See https://americacounts.us/using-actual-vote-is-legal/ and https://americacounts.us/get-started for more.

When an Actual Vote user is viewing a poll tape, they may use the app to video-record that poll tape. By comparing recordings of poll tapes made by yourself and others against official results provided by local election authorities, discrepancies can be identified and acted upon. The videos you take are reviewed by our experts. Videos of poll tapes that don't have any inappropriate material get approved and displayed on our website av.democracycounts.org. The Terms and Conditions that users of that site agree to are at https://av.democracycounts.org/TermsAndConditions.

View America Counts's privacy policy at https://americacounts.us/privacy-policy/ for more on how the videos you submit with the Actual Vote app are used. Users of the Actual Vote app agree to this User Agreement: https://americacounts.us/actual-vote-user-agreement/

Poll tapes typically contain government information like precinct names and aggregated vote totals. Vote tabulation and poll tapes are managed by state boards of elections, and the vote totals on such poll tapes may be used by state boards of elections as a part of the official vote reporting process. You can find more information about state boards of elections by internet-searching for "[state] board of elections". For example, the North Carolina State Board of Elections site is https://www.ncsbe.gov/. For Florida, it's https://dos.fl.gov/elections. For Georgia it's https://sos.ga.gov/elections-division-georgia-secretary-states-office.

America Counts is an election audit initiative of Democracy Counts, Inc., a 501(c)(3) registered non-profit non-partisan corporation. Democracy Counts, Inc. does not represent a government entity.

How Does It Work?

1. Users download the Actual Vote app on their smart phones which provide links to training materials.
2. After a polling place has closed and publicly posted its official results, use Actual Vote to make digital recordings of the results and upload to our website.
3. Once election officials have released official election results, compare with the results recorded at https://av.democracycounts.org.

FAQs:
Q: Where and when are poll tapes displayed?

A: At most polling places, voting results are posted publicly on an outside surface such as a wall or door, or sometimes behind a window, once counting has completed. Because officials do not always take weather into account, it is vitally important to make recordings as soon as polling places close to avoid possible loss due to wind or rain.

Vote counting centers, unlike polling places, take much more time before making voting results available and may only do so upon request.

In either case, contacting your local election officials and planning ahead for any contingency is recommended.

Q. Is Actual Vote or America Counts affiliated with any political party?

A. No, America Counts is a non-partisan, non-profit and does not promote any particular political ideology.

Q. Is Actual Vote or America Counts sponsored by or affiliated with any government agency or receive any funding from the government?

A. No.

Recent changes:
• Updates and bug fixes