U.S. Vote Foundation

In 2005, founder and CEO Susan Dzieduszycka-Suinat banded together with other American citizens abroad to form Overseas Vote, the precursor to US Vote focused on helping Americans living abroad exercise their voting rights. But the more the Overseas Vote team learned, the more they realized that citizens living in the U.S. needed help just as badly. Applying the lessons learned during the creation of Overseas Vote, and making election information available to U.S. citizens living in America, was the logical next step. The team saw the potential to transform the U.S. voting landscape for the better.

In 2012, US Vote was established, bringing the easy-to-use, free and accurate voting information to domestic US voters, overseas and military voters alike. Unlike other sources of voter information, US Vote and Overseas Vote take a voter-centric approach that keeps the end user – the voter – in mind.

Today, both Overseas Vote and US Vote help tens of millions of voters each election cycle. Here’s how:

1. We give voters the information they need.
US Vote’s website is a free, accurate, easy-to-use resource that gives voters a simple way to find out:
• Where, when, and how they can register to vote
• When their state’s voter registration deadlines are
• What their state’s rules are for absentee and mail-in voting
• Where their polling place is, and when polls are open
• Who their election officials are, and how they can contact their local election office

2. We amplify our reach by making our tools available to other civic organizations.
Realizing the scale and seriousness of the problem, many other organizations are also dedicated to expanding equity and access to voting. We partner with these voter outreach organizations, state and county governments, and federal agencies, giving them access to our accurate, up-to-date software database of state- and local-level civic data.

Our licensees include many well-known organizations, including the Alliance for Securing Democracy, the Brennan Center for Justice, Hip Hop Caucus, the League of Women Voters, Rock the Vote, Vote.org, VoteAmerica, the State of Ohio, and the United States Postal Service, among many others.

How we’re different
• We are the only organization that offers all voter services and information for domestic, military, and overseas voters, all in one place.
• US Vote was created by voters, for voters, and with the voter in mind.
• We offer a range of voter tools, election information, and FAQs.
• We run a Voter Help Desk, where people can get personalized answers to their questions.
• We continually update our database as information changes.
• We’re relentlessly focused on quality and are wholly committed to protecting our users’ security and privacy.
• We conduct post-election research.
• We are nonpartisan. We exist to serve voters, not to promote issues.
• We do not collect or share any data about individual voters.
• We provide more services to more voters per dollar donated than any other voter services organization.

For nearly two decades, U.S. Vote Foundation (US Vote) has consistently demonstrated its unwavering commitment to voter-centric civic technology innovation. Founded as “Overseas Vote Foundation,” the organization spearheaded civic tech automation of overseas and military absentee voting processes. While serving all voter types, US Vote continues its commitment to this voting population through its Overseas Vote initiative.

The processes that helped make the 2020 general election the safest and most successful election in U.S. history were online ballot requests; online access to dates, deadlines, and eligibility information; and available local election official contact information – all innovative services that were pioneered on the US Vote and Overseas Vote sites.

A Legacy of Firsts

US Vote is a trailblazer. It is the only nonpartisan, nonprofit organization to offer all voter services and information for domestic, military, and overseas voters in one place. US Vote takes a voter-centric approach to its work, keeping the voters top of mind in every strategic decision. Here are a few of US Vote’s “firsts”:

• First user-friendly, wizard-driven online system for overseas and military Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) voter registration and ballot requests
• First to create an online “vote-print-mail" Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot (FWAB) with dynamic, integrated candidate lists for overseas and military voters
• First voter help desk for overseas and military voters
• First to license customized overseas and military voter websites for states and other organizations
• First overseas and military absentee ballot return shipping program, “Express Your Vote" – a collaboration with FedEx in 94 countries
• First Youth Vote Overseas outreach program
• First automated domestic voter registration and absentee ballot request to produce customized, state-specific form output across all states
• First to develop and license Election Official Directory
• First to develop and offer the Voter Account service, creating personal democracy dashboards for individual voters

From the time it launched its first voter service in 2004 until now, US Vote has played a key role in many of the nation’s core voting initiatives and highest-profile organizations. Here is a snapshot of the organization’s impact:

Domestic and Overseas Voter Information Services
• 3.3 million voters were directly served through the US Vote and Overseas Vote websites during the 2020 election cycle, from the primaries through to the Georgia runoff election in January 2021, surpassing the organization’s goal.
• On Election Day 2020: US Vote had more than 11 million pageviews, and more than 72,000 voters used its services.
• Overall, traffic to US Vote’s website increased by approximately 80 percent during 2020 as compared to 2016, evidence of the organization’s increasing visibility among voters.
• During 2020, Overseas Vote had more than 600,000 unique site visits, and more than 11,000 voters accessed the site on Election Day 2020 alone.
• In 2017, US Vote launched the LOCelections initiative to make it easy for voters to find the dates and deadlines for their next local election, ultimately resulting in higher voter turnout and more representative local elections.

Civic Data and Systems Licensing
• US Vote served an estimated 25 million additional voters through its Civic Data API program used by all of the top voter outreach organizations in the U.S. to provide voters with access to its dates, deadlines, eligibility, and election official contact information.
• US Vote has licensed its Civic Data to 47 voter, academic, and government organizations, including the United States Postal Service, the National Association of Secretaries of State, the League of Women Voters, Vote.org, the Brennan Center for Justice, and many more.
• 1.4 million voters maintain a Voter Account on the US Vote system, putting customized voter information at their fingertips.
• As of 2020, US Vote’s Hosted Systems Solutions (HSS) program served 24 licensees with HHS systems, including eight states as well as a variety of civic organizations, offering them an integrated suite of voter services.

What’s next
Looking ahead, US Vote will build on our existing strengths with two transformative initiatives:

1. Increasing local elections participation: LOCelections program
To increase voter participation in local elections, we are curating a nationwide resource for election dates and deadlines for voters and licensees. LOCelections will enable voters to find out when their next local election is and how they can participate, ultimately resulting in higher voter turnout and more representative local elections.

2. Optimizing US Vote for mobile: Voter Account
1.4 million voters already hold Voter Accounts on the US Vote platform. We never stop improving the service. The current re-development efforts will bring forward a mobile-optimized Voter Account service. The Voter Account supports voter engagement through personalized voter services.