Though Actual Vote is designed to preserve the data on poll tapes in video format, it can also be used for documenting election security-related events.

As always, while using Actual Vote (or any recording device) in and around vote centers, it’s critical to follow laws about when filming is permitted. In most places, for example, while the polls are open, video-recording within a certain distance of vote centers is not permitted. 

But during the course of voting-related or Actual Vote-related activities, you may observe questionable behavior by election officials or bystanders, people interfering with the election process, or some major event taking place. These are the kinds of things that people might normally livestream or video-record on their phones. You may wish to also livestream or video-record it on your phone.

If you do so, you may consider using Actual Vote to record your video, so that a copy of your video is uploaded to our servers. This way, if anything should happen to the video on your phone, we have a back-up copy.

If you do so, America Counts’s reviewers will see that your recording is not of a poll tape, but rather of an election security-related event, and not release it to our public website that holds poll tape videos.

Documenting events like these strengthens democracy because it gives hard evidence of important events that happen during the voting process.