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How it works

The watchdog

A watchdog is an open-source program that checks every public election record against a list of simple rules, around the clock. If any rule breaks, everyone knows at once.

About 2 minutes · scroll to begin ↓
1

Anyone can run one.

Parties, newspapers, universities, civic groups, you. The more watchdogs, the harder it is for anything to slip by.

Party A watching
Party B watching
Newspapers watching
Universities watching
Civic groups watching
You watching
2

It checks simple rules.

Each rule is a plain yes-or-no question anyone can re-check and get the same answer.

No AI, on purpose. AI can’t show its work and can get things wrong. These rules can’t.

Watchdog · Sample Countylive
  • Counts only go up while polls are open
  • Nothing changes after polls close
  • Ballots match voters in every precinct
  • Every list entry has a paper ballot
  • Second scan agrees with the first
  • Machine fingerprints match the approved code
  • Every watchdog sees the same records
  • Re-run total matches the official result
3

It saves every version.

At poll close, the records are sealed with a fingerprint. The watchdog keeps checking it. Change one ballot and the fingerprint changes.

  1. 8:00 PM · sealede3b0…c442
  2. 9:00 PMe3b0…c442
  3. 10:00 PMe3b0…c442
  4. 11:00 PMe3b0…c442
Same fingerprint every hour = nothing changed.
4

Watchdogs compare notes.

Every watchdog shares what it sees with the others. If officials ever showed different records to different people, the watchdogs would notice right away.

  • Newspapere3b0…c442✓
  • Universitye3b0…c442✓
  • Party Ae3b0…c442✓
  • Party Be3b0…c442✓
✓ Every watchdog sees the same records
5

A tripwire trips.

Late at night, Precinct 31’s ballot count changes, hours after polls closed. Every watchdog sees it at the same moment.

Watchdog · Sample County11:42 PM
  • Counts only go up while polls are open
  • Nothing changes after polls close
  • Ballots match voters in every precinct
  • Every list entry has a paper ballot
  • Second scan agrees with the first
  • Machine fingerprints match the approved code
  • Every watchdog sees the same records
  • Re-run total matches the official result
6

Then: count the paper.

The precinct is put on hold. Its paper ballots are hand counted in public, and the hand count is what gets certified.

  1. 1Precinct 31 put on hold
  2. 2Sealed paper ballots opened in public
  3. 3Every ballot counted by hand
  4. 4Hand count is certified
7

Every trick, and what catches it.

Even if someone gets past the machine checks, every way to cheat leaves a trace.

  • ✕Flip a vote
    ✓A second scanner rechecks every paper ballot.
  • ✕Misread the marks
    ✓Every ballot’s picture is public, next to how it was counted.
  • ✕Add fake ballots
    ✓More ballots than voters. Result frozen.
  • ✕Invent a ballot with no paper
    ✓Every entry must match a real paper ballot.
  • ✕Give two people the same key
    ✓Part of each key comes from the voter.
  • ✕Run different code
    ✓Fingerprint doesn’t match. Machine blocked.
  • ✕Edit the list after close
    ✓Watchdogs saved every version. Alarm.
  • ✕Report the wrong total
    ✓Anyone can re-run the election.
The short version
  • ✓Anyone can run a watchdog. Many independent ones run at once.
  • ✓They check fixed, simple rules. No AI, no judgment calls.
  • ✓They save every version, so nothing can be quietly changed.
  • ✓A broken rule puts the result on hold until the paper is counted.
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