In 2003, the founder of this project went to the polls to
vote for the Virginia State Senate and State House offices. He found
that he didn’t have the slightest idea who any of the candidates were,
or anything about their positions and views, or any knowledge about the
ballot measures. Some candidate names, found on the clutter of street and
lawn posters, seemed familiar. He questioned the value of voting if voters
knew nothing about what they were voting for. This seemed like a major
flaw in our representative democracy.
Most American citizens are also aware that there are other significant
problems with our representative democracy. Money and special interest
groups have too much influence in elections and government. Political
advertising is often deceptive and misleading. There is little or no
media coverage of county and local elections. Voter turnout is low.
To help address these problems the Vote-USA project was launched.
The project’s goal was to provide a better way. Using the Internet,
he felt that he could provide voters with information they needed to
vote on a more informed basis and to provide candidates with the means
to easily communicate with voters, free of charge. By the time of the
2004 General Election, Vote-USA.org was able to provide a customized
sample ballot for any address in the country that allowed voters to
compare the candidates’ bios, pictures, and, most importantly, their
positions and views on the issues in an easy side-by-side format.
Since 2004, Vote-USA.org has covered all general elections in all
states and most off-year, special and primary elections. We have
provided voters with over 20 million candidate comparison pages.
Operations are funded exclusively through contributions from private
citizens and all contributions are 100% tax-deductible. To date, the
level of donations has limited the depth of information which we can
provide and the number of local elections which we can cover. We would
be grateful for your support in helping us truly make American government
“of the people, by the people, and for the people.”