Chapter 1

Welcome to MyVote

Democracy in Your Pocket,
Government at Your Fingertips

“Technology has become an integral part of our lives, but it often distracts us from our neighbors and community instead of helping us unite for the common good.

Introducing MyVote. The revolutionary mobile app that puts your government under your thumbs. Emergency services and government aid that will help your family thrive are now just a tap away, including veteran services, housing, and employment support, putting all your community resources in one place without the distraction of predatory ads and scams. MyVote also makes paying your taxes easier than ever, allowing you to file online in just a few minutes.

With MyVote, democracy is no longer limited to polling stations and town halls. It's accessible wherever you are. Empowering people and communities like never before.”

- MyVote Demo Video

The Problem: Government Is Supposed to Serve You—So Why Can’t You Reach It?

We are living in frightening and confusing times. From pandemics, unemployment, corporate price gouging, and unaffordable health care, to endless foreign wars, and armed Federal troops terrorizing our own neighborhoods and killing the innocent citizens they are supposed to protect. The American people feel helpless and afraid for our collective future when technological advances and worker productivity could provide us all with the food, clothing, shelter, clean water, and cheap energy we need to thrive as a society.

Instead of a government that protects our nation’s security and stability from “enemies, foreign and domestic,” we only see the rich getting richer from our tax dollars as the middle class gets poorer and those at the bottom of the ladder become more desperate than ever. Emails and calls begging our elected representatives for help are ignored while the billionaire-owned news and social media outlets tell us there’s no better way to do things—so we all better just suck it up and stop complaining.

Our government Of The People has been corrupted into a government abusing the people for profit. This crisis of inaccessible, unresponsive, and unaccountable politicians is destroying the lives of the American people instead of protecting and defending us as they were elected to do.

We pay our taxes. We follow the rules. We show up to vote. In theory, our government exists to serve us. In practice, actually accessing government services feels like navigating a deliberately constructed maze designed to make us give up.

Right now, across America, millions of citizens are entitled to services, benefits, and support that could change their lives—and they have no idea those services exist. Or they know the services exist but can’t figure out how to access them. Or they started the application process and got lost in bureaucratic quicksand. Or they’re being actively scammed by predators impersonating government services.

Here’s what trying to access government looks like for most Americans…

The Emergency Services Nightmare

Your elderly mother falls and breaks her hip. She needs immediate help. You try to find emergency services for seniors in your community. You Google it. You get:

• Predatory ads from private companies charging $200/month for “emergency monitoring” (preying on your panic).

• Seventeen different websites, half of which haven’t been updated since 2018.

• Contradictory information about what services are available.

• Phone numbers that go to voicemail during “business hours.”

• Scam websites mimicking government services that steal your mother’s personal information.

• No clear answer about what actual government services exist, who qualifies, or how to access them.

By the time you navigate this chaos, hours have passed. Your mother is suffering and you are desperate enough to pay the predatory private company, because you can’t find the legitimate government program that would provide the service for free or at a fraction of the cost.

This scenario plays out thousands of times daily across America.

The Veterans Services Disgrace

You are a veteran. You served your country. You are entitled to healthcare, disability benefits, education support, housing assistance, and employment services. In theory.

In practice:

• The VA website is a labyrinth of broken links and outdated information.

• Different benefits are managed by different systems that don’t talk to each other.

• You have to create seven different accounts with seven different passwords.

• Each application requires submitting the same documents multiple times.

• Wait times for responses stretch into months or years.

• You have no idea what you’re entitled to because information is scattered across dozens of uncoordinated sources.

• Private companies run predatory ads claiming they can “help veterans get benefits” (for a fee) when those same benefits should be accessible for free.

• Your medical records are in one system, your disability claim in another, your education benefits in a third—none of them integrated.

Twenty veterans die by suicide every day in America. Many were struggling to access the services they earned. Many didn’t know those services existed. Many gave up trying to navigate the bureaucracy.

That is not just a failure. That is a betrayal.

The Housing Support Lottery

You are struggling financially. You can’t pay rent. You are facing eviction. You have kids. You are terrified.

You know housing assistance programs exist—Section 8, emergency rental assistance, housing vouchers, transitional housing. You’ve heard about them. Can you access them?

• Housing assistance programs are run by different agencies at federal, state, and local levels.

• Each has different eligibility requirements, different application processes, different wait lists.

• Information about what programs exist in your area is scattered across multiple websites.

• Many programs are so underfunded that wait lists close entirely—you can't even apply.

• Applications require extensive documentation (tax returns, pay stubs, birth certificates, proof of citizenship) that you may not have readily available.

• You discover programs exist that you could have qualified for months ago—but nobody told you.

• By the time you navigate the system, you’ve been evicted.

Meanwhile, scammers run ads on Facebook: “Emergency Housing Assistance - Apply Now!” They steal your personal information and your application fee. The “emergency assistance” never materializes.

More than 770,000 Americans experienced homelessness on any given night in 2024—an 18 percent increase from the previous year. Nearly 150,000 of these were children. Many could have been helped by programs that exist—if they could have found and accessed them in time.

The Employment Support Maze

You lost your job. You need help finding work, retraining for a new career, or starting a business. Government programs exist for all of this—workforce development, job training, small business loans, unemployment insurance, apprenticeship programs.

Can you find them?

• The Department of Labor has programs. So does your state workforce agency. So does your county. So do various federal grant programs. None are coordinated.

• Job training programs have different eligibility requirements—some for displaced workers, some for veterans, some for youth, some for adults, some for specific industries.

• Small business support is split between SBA (federal), state economic development agencies, local chambers of commerce, and various grant programs.

• Unemployment insurance is state-managed but federally supported—good luck figuring out which agency to contact when your claim has issues.

• Information is scattered across dozens of websites with different formats, different applications, different requirements.

• Many programs go unused because people don’t know they exist.

You spend weeks trying to figure out what help is available. By then, you are behind on mortgage payments, your savings is depleted, and your stress is overwhelming. If you had known about the job retraining program on day one, you could already be enrolled and on the path to new employment.

Why is finding help harder than losing your job?

The Tax Filing Torture

You have to file taxes. It's not optional. The IRS already knows what you owe (they have all your income information from employers and banks). But you still have to spend hours or hundreds of dollars to tell them what they already know.

The current tax filing system is deliberately complicated:

• Free filing is technically available—but hidden behind a maze of restrictions and limited eligibility.

• Most Americans end up paying TurboTax or H&R Block $50-$200 to file taxes that should be free.

• These companies lobby extensively to keep tax filing complicated so you’ll keep paying them.

• The IRS can’t build a simple free filing system because Congress, influenced by tax prep company lobbying, won’t fund it.

• If you make a mistake, you might owe penalties—even though the government could have just told you what you owed in the first place.

• Small business owners spend dozens of hours on taxes, or pay accountants thousands of dollars, for a process that could be streamlined with modern technology.

Americans collectively spend 6.5 billion hours and over $260 billion annually on tax compliance. Not paying taxes—just figuring out how to report what the government already knows.

It’s not an accident that it’s this complicated. It is profitable for tax prep companies. It is politically useful for those who want citizens to hate government, and it is completely unnecessary with modern technology.

The Information Overload Paralysis

Even if you overcome all these barriers and finally access a government website, you’re confronted with:

Incomprehensible Language: Government websites are written in bureaucratic jargon that requires a law degree to understand. “Pursuant to subsection 42(b)(3) of Title 26, eligible applicants may submit documentation evidencing qualification for supplemental assistance…”

Translation: “If you qualify, send us proof.”

Buried Information: The one piece of information you need is hidden seventeen clicks deep, behind three different menus, in a PDF that hasn’t been updated since 2019.

Broken Links and Dead Ends: You click “Apply Here” and get a 404 error. You call the help line and get disconnected. You email the contact address and it bounces back.

Contradictory Instructions: The federal website says one thing. The state website says something else. The local office tells you something completely different. All three claim to be authoritative.

Predatory Ads Everywhere: You search for “veteran benefits” and the first five results are paid ads from companies that charge you for services that should be free. Some are legitimate (expensive) services. Some are outright scams. You can’t tell the difference.

The human cost compounds daily:

• A diabetic veteran can’t find the VA pharmacy system, so he rations his insulin and ends up in the emergency room.

• A single mother doesn’t know about WIC (nutrition assistance), so her children go hungry while she’s entitled to help.

• A laid-off factory worker doesn’t learn about retraining programs until it’s too late to enroll.

• An elderly couple gets scammed out of their savings by a fake Medicare hotline because they couldn’t find the real number.

These aren’t edge cases. These are daily realities for millions of Americans.

And it’s completely, entirely, inexcusably unnecessary.

The technology exists to fix all of this. The information exists. The services exist. The funding exists (or should exist, and where it doesn’t, we can see that clearly and demand it).

What’s missing is a functional system to connect citizens to their government.

The Solution: MyVote—Your Government, Unified and Accessible

MyVote is the single, comprehensive, verified platform that puts every government service, every piece of information, every resource you need in one place, accessible from the device already in your pocket.

Not another government website. Not another bureaucratic portal. A unified civic operating system that fundamentally transforms how you interact with government—making it as easy to access public services as it is to order dinner, check your bank balance, or message a friend.

Here’s what MyVote does:

Emergency Services at Your Fingertips

When crisis hits, MyVote is your lifeline.

One Tap Emergency Access:

• Medical emergency services

• Crisis intervention hotlines

• Domestic violence resources

• Mental health crisis support

• Suicide prevention services

• Disaster assistance

• Emergency financial assistance

• Emergency housing/shelter information

• Food banks and meal programs

• Legal aid for emergencies

Geolocation-Aware: MyVote would know where you are and show you the closest, most relevant resources:

• “Nearest emergency shelter: St. Mary’s Community Center, 0.8 miles, beds available."

• “24/7 crisis counseling: Call or text, response time under 5 minutes.”

• “Food assistance available today: Community Kitchen, 3-6 p.m., no documentation required.”

Direct Connection: Not just information—actual access. One tap to call. One tap to text. One tap to get directions. One tap to start an application. No searching. No navigating. No barriers between you and help.

Family Safety Features:

• Share your location with emergency contacts

• Alert family members to resources they might need

• Store critical medical information for emergency responders

• Document safety plans for domestic situations

• Access child protective services information when needed

Disaster Response Integration: When hurricanes, wildfires, floods, earthquakes, or other disasters strike:

• Real-time evacuation information

• Emergency shelter locations and availability

• FEMA assistance application

• Disaster unemployment assistance

• Lost document replacement services

• Missing persons registry

• Volunteer coordination

All verified. All legitimate. Zero scams. Zero predatory ads.

No Ads. No Scams. No Exploitation.

This is critical: MyVote has zero advertising and zero third-party monetization.

When you search for veteran benefits, you see actual veteran benefits—not paid ads from companies that want to charge you 30% of your disability payment to file your claim.

When you look for housing assistance, you see legitimate government programs—not predatory payday lenders offering “fast cash” at 400% APR.

When you need emergency help, you get real resources—not scammers impersonating government services to steal your personal information.

MyVote is funded by the government—by your tax dollars—to serve you without extracting additional money from you. That’s how government should work. That is what MyVote delivers.

Veteran Services—Finally Unified

If you served, MyVote ensures you get everything you earned.

Your Complete VA Profile: One dashboard showing:

• Healthcare enrollment and benefits

• Disability rating and claims status

• Education benefits (GI Bill) usage and remaining eligibility

• Home loan eligibility and pre-qualification

• Pension and compensation payment history

• Vocational rehabilitation status

• Dependent and survivor benefits

Integrated Medical Records: Your complete VA medical history, accessible to you and (with your permission) to your healthcare providers. No more repeating your medical history at every appointment. No more lost records.

Claims Tracking:

• File new claims directly through MyVote

• Upload supporting documentation from your phone

• Track claim status in real-time

• Receive notifications of decisions

• Appeal directly through the app if denied

• Connect with VSO (Veteran Service Organization) representatives

Education and Employment:

• GI Bill application and management

• Vocational rehabilitation enrollment

• Job matching based on your military experience

• Resume translation (military skills to civilian job requirements)

• Apprenticeship and training programs

• Small business support for veteran entrepreneurs

Housing and Financial Support:

• VA home loan application and pre-qualification

• Housing adaptation grants (for disability modifications)

• Emergency financial assistance

• Pension programs

• Survivor and dependent benefits

Community Connection:

• Local veteran organizations

• VA facility locations and wait times

• Peer support groups

• Mental health resources specifically for veterans

• Benefits counseling appointments

No more navigating seventeen different systems. No more waiting months to hear about claims. No more predatory companies charging veterans for services that should be free.

Housing and Employment Support For Every Citizen—All in One Place

MyVote consolidates every resource for housing stability and employment success.

Housing Assistance:

• Section 8 / Housing Choice Voucher application and waitlist status

• Emergency rental assistance

• Utility assistance programs

• First-time homebuyer programs

• Down payment assistance

• Foreclosure prevention resources

• Homeless prevention services

• Transitional housing programs

• Public housing applications

Employment Services:

• Job search tools with verified listings (no scams)

• Unemployment insurance application and claims

• Job training and apprenticeship programs

• Career counseling and assessment

• Resume building tools

• Interview preparation resources

• Disability employment support

• Ex-offender re-entry programs

• Immigrant employment services

Small Business Support:

• SBA loan applications

• Business plan templates and counseling

• Licensing and permit information

• Tax ID application

• Mentor matching programs

• Contracting opportunities (government contracts for small businesses)

• Minority and women-owned business certifications

Financial Stability:

• SNAP (food assistance) application

• WIC (nutrition for women, infants, children)

• TANF (temporary assistance for families)

• Child care assistance programs

• Energy assistance (LIHEAP)

• Free tax preparation (VITA program locations)

• Financial counseling resources

• Debt management programs

All services show:

• Clear eligibility requirements (“You qualify” or “You don’t qualify because…”)

• Required documentation (and help getting it if you don’t have it)

• Application status tracking

• Estimated wait times

• Appeal processes if denied

• Local office contact information

Taxes Made Simple—Finally

MyVote transforms tax filing from torture to trivial.

Automatic Pre-Filing: MyVote integrates with IRS systems (through X-Road) and pre-fills your return with information the government already has:

• W-2s from your employer

• 1099s from banks and investments

• Previous year’s return information

• Deduction and credit eligibility based on your profile

Guided Filing:

• Plain-language questions (not tax code jargon)

• Automatic calculation of deductions and credits you qualify for

• Warning flags if something looks wrong

• Comparison to previous years to catch errors

Direct Filing—Completely Free:

• No paying TurboTax $200 for something that should cost nothing

• No artificially restricted “free” versions that upsell you constantly

• No lobbying-created complications

• Just file, for free, in minutes

For Simple Returns: If you have standard W-2 income, standard deductions, and no unusual circumstances, filing takes literally 3-5 minutes:

• Review pre-filled information

• Confirm it’s correct

• Submit

Done

•
For Complex Returns: If you have business income, investments, rental properties, etc., MyVote provides:

• Step-by-step guidance

• Connection to free tax preparation assistance (VITA program)

• Option to consult with tax professionals (but you’re not forced to pay for basic filing)

Payment Options:

• Pay balance directly through MyVote (no separate payment portal)

• Set up payment plans if you can’t pay in full

• Track refund status in real-time

• Direct deposit of refunds (no waiting for checks)

Historical Records:

• Access all previous tax returns

• Download forms for mortgage applications, financial aid, etc.

• Audit support if needed (rare, but available)

The goal: Tax filing should take minutes, not hours. It should cost nothing, not hundreds of dollars. It should be as easy as checking your bank balance. MyVote makes it happen.

Community Resources—Organized and Accessible

MyVote isn’t just federal services—it’s every level of government and community support.

Local Services:

• Parks and recreation programs

• Library system (digital card, book checkouts, event calendars)

• Public transportation schedules and passes

• Trash and recycling schedules

• Utility payment and management

• Local permits (parking, events, construction)

• Animal control and pet licensing

• Local health departments

Education:

• Public school enrollment

• School lunch program application

• Special education services

• College financial aid (FAFSA)

• Student loan management

• Scholarship databases

• Adult education and GED programs

Healthcare:

• Medicaid and CHIP enrollment

• Healthcare marketplace (ACA) enrollment

• Medicare enrollment and management

• Prescription assistance programs

• Mental health resources

• Substance abuse treatment locators

• Free and low-cost clinic locations

• Health department services (immunizations, STD testing, etc.)

Legal Services:

• Legal aid eligibility and referrals

• Court information and schedules

• Small claims court filing

• Traffic ticket payment

• Name change and legal document services

• Immigration legal services

• Tenant rights information

• Consumer protection resources

All organized by your location. All customized to your needs. All without predatory ads, scams, or companies trying to charge you for services that should be free.

Democracy Beyond the Ballot Box

MyVote isn’t just services—it is civic engagement.

Stay Informed:

• Track legislation that affects you

• Follow your representatives

• Read verified news relevant to your community

• Access public records and historical documents

Participate Actively:

• Sign petitions that matter to you

• Comment on proposed regulations

• Participate in town halls (virtual or in-person)

• Vote in local elections and referendums

• Build your own budget priorities to share with representatives

Hold Representatives Accountable:

• See their voting records

• Track their campaign promises

• Message them directly with concerns

• Rate their responsiveness

• Verify their public statements

Build Community:

• Connect with neighbors on local issues

• Organize around shared concerns

• Share verified information (not misinformation)

• Participate in authenticated discussions (no bots, no trolls)

• Build coalitions for change

Democracy isn’t just Election Day. It’s every day. MyVote makes that real.

Government That Actually Serves You

For too long, we’ve accepted that government has to be difficult to navigate, slow to respond, and frustrating to deal with. We’ve normalized the idea that accessing services you’re entitled to requires patience, persistence, and often professional help.

That’s not inevitable. That’s a choice. A choice made by those who benefit from an inaccessible system—whether private companies profiting from filling the gaps, or political interests who benefit when citizens think “government doesn’t work.”

My Vote is the choice to do better.

Not by creating more bureaucracy—by cutting through it with technology that already exists.

Not by building a surveillance state—by creating transparent systems you control.

Not by replacing human services—by making those services accessible when and where you need them.

Just by making government work the way it should have worked all along.

Real-World Proof: This Isn’t Science Fiction

MyVote is built on X-Road, the secure data exchange layer originally developed in Estonia 25 years ago. It has expanded globally as a leading solution for electronic governance and digital public infrastructure, and is currently deployed in 25 countries. Over 542 million people depend on X-Road infrastructure daily as the backbone for digital services provided by public and private sector organizations.

Here are a few of the biggest examples…

Estonia’s X-Road System:

• 99% of government services available digitally

• Tax filing takes 3-5 minutes for 95% of citizens

• Healthcare records unified and accessible

• Birth registration happens automatically (hospitals report to government systems)

• Starting a business takes 15 minutes online

• Digital signatures save 2% of GDP annually

• Result: Highest citizen satisfaction with government in Europe

Singapore’s SingPass:

• Single digital identity for all government services

• 4.5 million users (in a country of 5.9 million)

• Access to 2,700+ government and private sector services

• Mobile app enables instant authentication and document sharing

• Over 350 million transactions annually

• Result: 97% digital government service usage among citizens aged 15+

South Korea’s K-Government:

• Unified government service portal serving 50+ million citizens

• Tax filing, healthcare management, business registration, all integrated

• Mobile-first design with 80%+ smartphone penetration

• Result: Ranked #1 globally in e-government development

Denmark’s NemID:

• Single digital ID used for banking, government, healthcare

• 5.8 million users (in a country of 5.9 million)

• Reduced government administrative costs by 30%

• Result: 90%+ citizen satisfaction with digital government

These aren’t small countries with easy problems. They are diverse democracies that decided to invest in their digital infrastructure. They have proven it works. MyVote can bring the same success to America.

Why This Matters to You

Time: Hours saved every year not navigating bureaucracy, not hunting for information, not re-submitting the same documents to different agencies.

Money: Hundreds or thousands of dollars saved on tax preparation, avoided scams, and accessed benefits you didn’t know existed.

Stress: The crushing anxiety of dealing with government disappears when services are actually accessible and understandable.

Dignity: You’re not a supplicant begging bureaucracy for help you’re entitled to. You’re a citizen accessing services your taxes fund, easily and respectfully.

Opportunity: When you can actually access job training, education benefits, housing support, and small business resources, you can build the life you want instead of being trapped by circumstances.

Safety: Emergency services that are actually accessible in emergencies. Resources that help before crisis becomes catastrophe. Support that’s there when you need it.

What Comes Next

The following sections will detail how MyVote achieves this vision.

• Integration with Existing Systems: How X-Road connects government databases without centralizing power or compromising security.

• Authenticated Users and Digital ID: How biometric verification creates accountability while protecting privacy.

• Representation and Accountability: How MyVote gives you direct access to representatives and makes them accountable for responsiveness.

• Personalized Dashboard: How your MyVote interface delivers exactly the information and services you need, without noise or manipulation.

• Verified Polling and Participatory Budgeting: How MyVote enables continuous democratic participation beyond just voting every two years with instant verified polling to create a data-driven democracy based on factual information our representatives and the profit-driven media can’t ignore.

• Elections and Voting: How MyVote transforms elections from confusing chaos into informed, transparent, verifiable democratic choice.

• Community Empowerment: How MyVote helps citizens and their communities unite for their common good, enabling real, accountable representation from their elected representatives.

Each section builds on this foundation: government services should be as accessible as any other digital service you use daily, but with stronger security, complete transparency, and zero commercial exploitation.

The Bottom Line

One app. All your government services. Emergency resources, veteran benefits, housing support, employment services, and tax filing—all accessible with one tap. No predatory ads. No scams. No bureaucratic nightmares. Just the government you pay for, finally accessible when and where you need it. Democracy isn’t just polling stations anymore—it will be in your pocket, empowering you and your community every single day. And unlike the current system—which is broken by design and resistant to change—MyVote will be built to evolve, improve, and serve every citizen.

Many states have already taken their first steps toward the comprehensive system described here, including the great state of Wisconsin, which has been hosting it’s election and voting information online at MyVote.wi.gov since 2012. With secure modern technology every citizen of every city and state could have their own MyVote.gov town square.

Summary of Best Practices
How MyVote Changes Everything

One Account, Verified Once: You create your MyVote account one time, with the biometric verification you already use on your phone everyday. From then on:

• Every service recognizes you

• Your information pre-fills applications

• You control what data is shared with whom

Mobile-First Design: MyVote is designed for the device in your pocket:

• Clean, simple interface

• Fast loading even on slow connections

• Works offline for critical features

• Accessible design for all abilities

• Multiple language support

Privacy by Default:

• You control what information is shared

• Government agencies can’t see your data without your permission