ABOUT US
The Vote Word approach.
Voteword exists to answer one question every voter should be able to answer: Was my vote counted?
We’ve had the technology to answer it for years. What we haven’t had is the will. Politicians like a little wiggle room. Election officials don’t want to add to their contracts. Voting machine companies build what they’re asked to build, and nobody has asked for this.
Voteword is meant to change that.
When you cast your ballot, you get a “vote word.” After the election you can look it up in the public list of all ballots cast and confirm your vote was recorded as you cast it. Your name is never attached to it. You check your own vote, and your ballot stays secret.
Who’s behind it
Voteword was created by Paul Pazniokas, a software designer who spent more than twenty years in the industry. He invented the Vote Word method as a cheap, solid fix for a problem that doesn’t need an expensive one, and in 2006 he received a US patent for it (No. 6,991,161).
That patent expired in 2026, and Paul is glad it did. The Vote Word method now belongs to everyone. Any election office, voting machine company or civic organization is free to use it, build on it and bring it to voters. This was never about making money. It’s about giving voters a simple, trustworthy way to see that democracy is working.
What we believe
We think Vote Word strikes the right balance. Voters get real freedom to check their own votes, and the system stays secure, practical and fiscally sensible. We want to see it widely adopted and available to everyone, so governments stop spending taxpayers’ time, money and trust on complex solutions they don’t need.
We’ll get there the old-fashioned way: telling people what’s possible, spreading the word, and telling our elected representatives we want it.
We can do this. Let’s start now.
We would appreciate hearing about your reaction to the Vote Word approach.
If you’re excited about this simple solution, we would ask you to tell as many people about it as possible: friends, politicians, a talk-show host, an activist. Before you know it, your state or county may be giving you the ability to look up your vote online with Vote Word.
And please do let us know what you think.
Because I believe in Vote Word so strongly, I’m very interested in encouraging public comment on it and am available for talks and interviews. That is the sole purpose of voteword.org.
The best way to get in touch with us is via the form on this page.
It shouldn’t be necessary to say (though it is, in this spam-intensive time) that we will not use your email address for any purpose other than to reply to your communication, and will not even do that if you so request.
Thanks for your interest in the Vote Word!