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Unprecedented election transparency website launches
Aug 5, 2021
by Voter Reference Foundation

A first-of-its-kind website launched today that will finally give American citizens a way to examine crucial voting records.

Often criticized as sloppily kept and infrequently updated, voter registration lists for all 50 states will be posted in searchable format for the first time in American history. Citizens will be able to check their voting status, voting history, and those of their neighbors, friends, and others. They will be able to “crowd-source” any errors.

The first state — Nevada — went online today at VoteRef.com. Other states will be added throughout 2021.

VoteRef is a permanent reference source operated by the newly formed non-profit Voter Reference Foundation (VRF). The Executive Director is Gina Swoboda, a certified election officer in Arizona.

“VoteRef is the beginning of a new era in American election transparency,” Swoboda said. “We have an absolute right to see everything behind the curtain. Too often election information is de facto secretive — it might technically be accessible but the average citizen has no idea how to access it. Today, that begins to change.”

Those who access the website will be able to search by name or address for registered voters. They also will be able to peruse voting histories — a list of elections that voter participated in, as well as other important election data obtained via official sources.

In addition to making the voter registration lists public, the Voter Reference Foundation is performing basic state-by-state accounting audits of the 2020 election — another first in the United States.

In compiling the voter registration lists from counties and states after the election and certification process, the VRF is comparing whether the number of ballots certified in 2020 matches the number of voters. Specifically, VRF compared the number of voters reported on voter registration lists collected in early 2021 to the number of ballots cast per the states’ official canvasses, certified in December 2020. Theoretically, these numbers should match.

In Nevada and all other states analyzed so far, those totals do not match. In Nevada, the discrepancy is 8,964 — meaning there are 8,964 fewer voters on the registration list’s voting histories than there are ballots certified by the state after the election.

The discrepancies in other states will be revealed as those state’s databases are entered in VoteRef in coming weeks.

Swoboda’s credentials include serving in the election division of the Arizona Secretary of State’s office under two administrations. She also was founder of Arizona Election Integrity, a group that monitored elections.

The VRF was created by Restoration Action, an educational 501c4 organization founded by West Point graduate and successful entrepreneur Doug Truax. A former U.S. Senate candidate in Illinois, Truax is deeply interested in election integrity, as expressed in this recent op-ed in American Greatness.

https://voteref.com/press_releases/1-unprecedented-election-transparency-website-launches