Political cybersquatting ends with launch of new .VOTE domain

New .VOTE and .VOTO domains offer authentic, verified Internet addresses that eliminate voter confusion by ensuring personal domain names are only used by legitimate political candidates, political parties, referendums and ballot initiative campaigns

CHEYENNE, Wyo.--()--Political campaigns in the United States will soon have a unique, nonpartisan solution to protect their online presence: the .VOTE top-level domain.

Beginning in late 2014, candidates and elected officials will be able to register their personal .VOTE domain name to be used with their official campaign website and email. Due to the restricted and verified nature of the domain, voters can be confident that the campaign’s .VOTE website and email are the official voice of the candidate.

The need for an easily identifiable “official” Web presence has become increasingly important in politics. According to Blueprint Interactive, 49 percent of persuadable voters get their news about campaigns and elections on the Internet and 64 percent of voters use the Internet to “fact check” politicians’ claims. Further, 58 percent search online for candidates’ voting records and positions.

.VOTE domain names are uniquely suited for “official” sites because .VOTE itself is non-partisan and verifies all of its domain name holders. That means only valid, bona fide political candidates and related entities can have .VOTE domain names. Now, candidates, campaign managers, journalists and voters alike can stop worrying about bogus websites purporting to publish a candidate’s views and record on the issues. Only .VOTE websites can be relied on to represent the politician, ending the confusion that abounds in unrestricted and unverified addresses like .com or .net. In short: if it’s not .VOTE, do not take note!

The security and reliability of .VOTE is managed by registry services operator Afilias. Roland LaPlante, Afilias Senior Vice President and CMO, said, “Today, politicians and voters must be confident that accurate and genuine campaign information is easily discoverable online. Too often, however, politicians have found Internet addresses related to their own names being fielded by opposing campaigns or cybersquatters. The new .VOTE domain solves that issue permanently.”

Along with .VOTE, the .VOTO domain is scheduled to launch in the fourth quarter of 2014. The .VOTO domain is designed specifically to help politicians and candidates reach the USA’s extensive, increasingly influential Latino population. .VOTO will have the same verification assurances that come with a .VOTE domain.

The .VOTE and .VOTO domains are managed by Monolith Registry LLC, a joint venture led by Afilias, one of the world’s leading providers of Managed Registry Services.

For the latest news about the .VOTE and .VOTO domains, see http://vote.afilias.info.

Contacts

for Monolith Registry
Vance Hedderel, 703-485-5563
press@monolithregistry.org

Release Summary

Political campaigns in the United States will soon have a unique, nonpartisan solution to protect their online presence: the .VOTE top-level domain.

Contacts

for Monolith Registry
Vance Hedderel, 703-485-5563
press@monolithregistry.org