As you use PeopleCount.org, you'll probably have some questions about what we do or about how to get involved. Check out our frequently asked questions, below. If you don't see the answer to what you are looking for, contact us! We'd love to hear from you!
What is PeopleCount.org?
PeopleCount.org is a non-partisan organization committed to empower people to be responsible for and create effective and accountable government.
The PeopleCount.org website is where you can sign up to get involved when it launches.
When it launches, you'll be able to hold your Congressional politicians accountable. You'll be able to vote on issues, see the results, demand reports from your members of Congress and their challengers, grade those results, and see how all constituents grade them.
Why was PeopleCount.org created?
Our political system has many problems, like the influence of money in politics, the divisiveness and hostility, the lack of competition in elections, Congressional gridlock, and much more. These are actually all symptoms of an underlying problem, that our politicians are not truly accountable to voters. PeopleCount was created to fix this underlying issue in a way that can support fixing all of the problematic symptoms as well.
Accountability is a relationship. All relationships are built out of role-based communication. PeopleCount will provide structured communication channels that will make real accountability possible. It'll be rewarding for both voters and politicians, leading to widespread adoption.
In our political system today, we lack this communication. Because our politicians cannot know what we want, they listen to the people around them, donors, lobbyists and special interests. And they listen to the parties which care more about posturing and fighting for power rather than resolving the problems facing our country.
With PeopleCount, our desires on issues will be clear to both our politicians and ourselves, creating an environment in which our politicians can act.
Knowing what we want, we can then hold our representatives accountable. True accountability means needing to account for ones actions and promises, or suffering consequences. The immediate consequences on PeopleCount of lack of accountability or poor performance will be earning poor grades from voters, leading to defeat in the next election.
Over time, PeopleCount.org will offer more services so we can communicate even more effectively with each other and with our representatives, and navigate politics easily and quickly.
Our vision is to spread this to other countries as well, so other democracies can govern themselves more effectively, non-democracies can better know what their people want, and all people can communicate about global issues.
Why should I use PeopleCount.org?
Answering questions on PeopleCount's issues, you can do your part as a citizen to guide the country. Instead of stating your opinion and then it's gone, or is filed somewhere as a letter to the editor that a few thousand people read, your position is logged as a vote, and combined with others to guide the nation.
By voting on PeopleCount, you support a day when so many people use it that representatives no longer need to argue about what America wants. Some issues won't have a clear majority, a clear signal to us all that a compromise is in order. One organization has found over 100 issues on which informed voters agree, yet Congress has done nothing!
On some important issues, Congress isn't acting simply because they're not yet in the mainstream news. You'll be able to vote on these as well.
On the issues important to you, you'll be able to grade politicians' monthly reports, and see their overall grades. This will pressure the incumbents to do what The People want.
Over just a few months, you'll get to know candidates on the issues important to you to make an informed vote in the next election.
I'm not a citizen- what about my voice?
If you're a U.S. resident, age 18 or over, you're welcome to join us. Our government governs everyone in America, as well as our citizens overseas. In addition, we intend to allow non-residents on the site soon after we secure funding.
When you view the votes on an issue, you'll be able to see the tallies for everyone, for US residents, or just for voters. You'll be able to see them for all voters, for your state's voters, on just for the voters in your congressional district.
I'm a teen- what about my voice?
U.S. law has regulations (COPPA) that say if we allow teens on the site, we have to ensure we don't entice children 12 and under to join and mis-represent their age. We inted to address this and open it up for teens.
I'm a member of Congress, how will PeopleCount.org benefit my campaign?
As an elected official, you'll be able to see what's important to people and where they stand, so you can know what they want and expect.
People want you to be accountable, meaning that you deliver what they want or you account for why not and they judge you. On each issue, you'll be able to submit a written monthly report, and an identical audio and video report. Voters who flag the issue as important will be notified to view the report and grade it.
Rather than spend a lot of money surprising people with small messages on the issues important to you, people will read or view your reports on the issues important to them, at very low expense. Plus, you'll be able to do this throughout your term, rather than just during the campaign season.
You'll be able to communicate much more for much less money, vastly lessening the influence of money in elections. You'll no longer need to fundraise while in office.
I'm a challenger, how will PeopleCount.org benefit my campaign?
The cost of PeopleCount's services will be affordable for challengers. You'll be able to reach the same voters as incumbents.
In some ways, you'll have an advantage in the first election after PeopleCount is launched. First, you'll be able to criticize the incumbent for not acting on highly popular issues. Second, you'll be able to promise to be voters' first member of Congress who is truly accountable.
How can I give feedback about an issue?
To give feedback on an existing issue, especially what's missing, there is a “Feedback” button. Please be constructive.
There will also be an "Issue" about PeopleCount Quality where you can give feedback.
How can I tell you what new issues I want you to cover?
If an important issue is missing, it's probably missing so that the initial site is not overwhelming. You'll be able to rate the priorities of manu future issues, as well as suggest issues.
Do you share my data? Is it private?
We do not share your data. It is private. We will use your email address only to contact you. You'll be able to set the contact frequency.
We use your address and birth date to validate your identity and connect you with your representatives and voting regions- state and district, and later, other political areas, such as your county or city. There are already public lists of who lives where and when people were born. We need you to enter this information to make it difficult for people to make fake accounts.
When we report on data, we may report on tallies of questions per demographic data, such as age, sex and party. None of your personal information is ever shared. None of your answers to issues are shared. Only the vote totals are available, like in a public election.
If the privacy policy changes, you'll be notified. We will not share information you've given us without your explicit permission. If the privacy policy changes, we will not share your information without your explicit permission.
Some of the questions seem biased. Are you non-partisan?
We are committed to being non-partisan, to not taking a side. We try hard to make questions that are unbiased. And, this is a challenge.
No one is unbiased. We have studied our own biases and have expertise in identifying our view that creates the bias. When we craft the questions, we seek to minimize bias, and always present a rich set of answers that can reasonably represent almost all views. When we have the staff, we will also test each issue against a set of trial users and ask for feedback.
Just by having a question on one topic and not another, a question or an entire issue may seem biased to some. You're welcome to leave feedback in an issue about this. We may be able to understand your point of view better if you can show us how the question might be rephrased to be less biased.
Many questions might be thought liberal to conservatives and conservative to liberals. Please keep in mind that your real experience of bias might be due to your own bias.
How does an Issue differ from a Survey, Ballot or Petition?
The common definition of a "survey" is a questionnaire given to a few people to estimate the opinions of many. In America today, most political surveys sample, at a moment in time, the throw-away opinions from mostly disempowered people. These opinions are "throw away" because the answerer probably will never see the survey result. And if they change their opinion, they can't change their surveyed answer.
Surveys are often given on the phone. Surprised, unprepared, you can't even take a few minutes to look something up. And often they interrupt when you have limited time, so you're rushed.
Plus, surveys are designed to answer a question rather than let you express your desires- they often leave out important answers, forcing you to make a false choice. Petitions are worse- they only let you agree to an often multi-faceted statement. You're left with the choice of signing or not when you only agree with part of it. And if you oppose it, you have to remain silent.
A PeopleCount issue reports the desires of empowered people. Before your answer, you can talk to friends about it or do some reading. You can view the results at any time, and the results are updated if you change your answer. Answers on PeopleCount are much more likely to be informed opinions.
Unlike most surveys, you can ignore any issues or questions you don't care about.
Issues are designed for you to express your views. Unlike surveys, if a profile question falls short, we can update or replace it. If new possibilities arise, we can add answers and notify you.
Ballots also fall far short of PeopleCount issue. Ballots on issues let you vote yes or no on a proposal even if you just agree with half of it. Issues often let you answer single-topic questions with a range of answers. As we invent better ways of answering questions, like also saying how important an issue is to you, how much you know about it and how certain you are, you'll be able to use them. And ballots have to be submitted just once, often on a particular day, in person.
In addition, in the rare case when you see results, most surveys only report national results- they don't report on your district or state so you can't use them to hold your representatives accountable. This is another reason why most politicians line up behind their parties- they're currently getting their positions, and their power, from the national parties, not from the desires of constituents.
It usually costs $2-$3,000 for a single survey. exist today on PeopleCount would cost $20,000 for each of the 485 districts and states- about a million dollars! And still they'd suffer from all the drawbacks above.
Some people think surveys have "selection bias", where only a certain kind of person answers. For instance, telephone surveys often only reach homeowners. Or mostly lonely people might respond to surveys. PeopleCount avoids this by not sampling. Our goal is to only represent people who care.
And a huge difference is that PeopleCount issues are useful. You use them to know what Americans want when you grade politicians' reports.
Who creates the issues and questions- can the public participate?
In the beginning, the issues and questions are created by our staff, which is trained in understanding our individual biases and has criteria for creating complete and fair answers.
The public is welcome to provide feedback, suggestions and constructive criticism. We don't yet have technology and a process for the public creating issues that meet our standards quality and being non-partisan.
They need to be well-organized. Over time, there will be a large body of issues and questions and users need to be able to easily find and update questions. Repetition needs to be avoided to keep the number manageable. Other sites, such as Change.org and AmericansElect.com that have allowed the public to submit questions ended up with thousands of questions, many with poor quality, and a lot of redundancy.
Is there on-line help or support?
Yes, on this help page
How do I make a donation?
To donate, and for questions about donating, please see the Donations page.
Are there sponsorship opportunities available for companies or individuals?
Yes, these are welcome. Please contact Rand, at 650-861-1537, or by email.
I'm passionate about political activism and would like to get involved. How can I volunteer to help PeopleCount?
We welcome your help! Unfortunately, you can only donate time to a non-profit.
See for opportunities to help We could use help in the following areas:
If you'd like to learn more about getting involved with PeopleCount.org, please email Rand at Rand@PeopleCount.org
I feel uncomfortable giving my personal information to PeopleCount.org, what do you do with my registration information?
We use it to find your congressional district, and use a bit of it currently to add some demographic information to votes, so politicians can see separate totals for voters and likely voters. There may be more breakdowns of totals in the future, or less. There'll be a question on a PeopleCount issue asking your opinion. We plan on also checking information against voter rolls to protect against making fraudulent accounts.
When we look up your district, we pass just your address to a mapping vendor. When we email you, the email goes through an email service. In the future, we might add a feature that lets you post something to your social media account. These are the kind of business uses that require our "Terms of Use" statement to say that we "share" your data.
We do not sell any of your personal data. We do not share your contact information with political groups or politicians. At some point we might allow you to choose to do that.
We will not support advertisements, political or non-political.
Where are the answers I gave in the prototype?
We are struggling to survive and launch, working around the clock. There were only about a hundred users of the prototype, and we changed some of the questions, so transferring data would be difficult. We apologize for the inconvenience.
I believe your earlier answers, and your account are still on iCount.com, and you can still use their services. After you've logged in at icount.com, you can find the "GROUPS" link at the top to display your groups. They also have a "CONNECTIONS" link to display your representatives so you can send them messages.
How can I give feedback about the site?
If it's appreciation, please Like our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter, and share us with people you know. You're welcome to send a customer testimonial to mktg@PeopleCount.org.
We appreciate other feedback, as well. Please try to make it constructive. See our contact page. You can also add comments to our blog
For feedback on existing and future issues and features, see the earlier section.
After I fill out a PeopleCount issue, how are my answers recorded?
As you answer each question within an issue, your answer is sent to our secure webserver and database. This is why there's no Submit button at the end.
If your PC crashes, your answers have been saved if you were connected to the internet. If you refresh the page, the answers you see were the ones that were saved.
Please email your questions or concerns to support@PeopleCount.org.