Bitcoin Blockchain Used To Secure Results Of Tennessee County’s Republican Convention Vote

On Tuesday, March 4, 2025, the Williamson Country Republican Party held its normal astatine the Franklin Marriott, located successful the bosom of Williamson County, Tennessee.

At the event, “bona fide” Republicans (those who voted successful the past 3 retired of 4 Republican primaries) voted for the aboriginal of their party’s section leadership, with the 2 sides successful the contention — Elevate and the Williamson County Republicans — each offering a slate of 8 candidates.

The final results of the vote were committed successful (added to) Bitcoin artifact 886,370 utilizing Simple Proof’s Immutable Proof service, an automated work that employs the OpenTimestamps protocol to assistance support nationalist records.

Why Simple Proof?

Simple Proof preserves the integrity of documents by committing integer versions of said documents successful the arbitrary information tract (the OP_RETURN function) of a bitcoin transaction. In doing so, the documents are irrevocably committed to a artifact connected the Bitcoin blockchain, which is immutable.

This exertion has proven to beryllium fantabulous for preserving predetermination records, arsenic it helps to forestall tampering with predetermination results erstwhile a ballot number is finalized.

Simple Proof enactment itself connected the representation erstwhile it helped unafraid the ballot tallies for 2023’s Presidential predetermination successful Guatemala, the communicative of which is outlined successful the abbreviated documentary “Immutable Democracy.”

The institution besides helped to preserve the integrity of predetermination results successful Screven County, Georgia this past November.

It was really this communicative from Screven County that caught the attraction of Steve Giraud, a Republican elector based successful Williamson County who wanted to spot integrity of the ballot tally for the Williamson County Republican enactment predetermination upheld.

So, helium and a person with whom helium hosts Bitcoin meetups, Dave Birnbaum (also a contributor to Bitcoin Magazine), reached retired to the Simple Proof to employment its services.

“Steve, the idiosyncratic who contacted Simple Proof, described himself arsenic a ‘concerned citizen,’” Simple Proof laminitis and CEO Rafael (Rafa) Cordon told Bitcoin Magazine.

Cordon went connected to explicate that Simple Proof is politically impartial and that it does nary much than supply a technological service.

“We’re not moving straight for immoderate governmental enactment oregon electoral authority, conscionable a idiosyncratic who wants to support voting documents,” said Cordon.

Carlos Toriello, Election Lead astatine Simple Proof, reiterated Cordon’s constituent that Simple Proof doesn’t enactment connected behalf of governmental groups and lone works to sphere the integrity of cardinal predetermination documents.

“They tin usage our work to cognize that the accusation that they trust upon has been preserved,” Toriello told Bitcoin Magazine.

Pre-Convention Tension

When I spoke with Giraud the time earlier the vote, helium seemed visibly tense astir imaginable interference during the nighttime of the ballot and/or ineligible enactment being taken to situation the legitimacy of the predetermination results aft the fact.

Giraud, who is affiliated with the Williamson County Citizens, a radical of “grassroots conservatives” that believes successful tiny government, debased taxes and reduced regulation, explained that the Republican sect to which helium belongs has been profoundly astatine likelihood with the Williamson County Conservatives, who helium described arsenic little ideologically-driven “establishment Republicans.”

At the convention, bona fide Republicans would ballot for a full of 8 enactment leaders, selected from the 8 enactment connected the ballot by Elevate, the Republican radical with which Giraud is affiliated, and 8 enactment connected the ballot by the Williamson County Conservatives.

In the weeks starring up to the convention, reports stated that the Williamson County Republicans ran a misinformation run successful which they claimed that Elevate was trying to suppress the ballot due to the fact that the Williamson County Republican Party (WCRP), made up of a bulk of representatives from Elevate, mandated in-person voting astatine the convention, contempt the information that this mandate comes from Tennessee’s Republican enactment bylaws.

According to Giraud, the Williamson County Conservatives besides claimed that the WCRP changed the venue past infinitesimal arsenic a means to trim elector turnout from supporters of Williamson County Conservatives.

Giraud argued that this wasn’t the case, though.

“Given the turnout we were expecting, we were getting precise adjacent to exceeding the maximum capableness oregon occupancy complaint for the archetypal venue, the Franklin Factory Liberty Hall,” helium explained.

“So, idiosyncratic astatine the Contest and Credentialing Committee (CCC) (which is simply a abstracted entity from the WCRP) said helium had to alteration venue, which could disadvantage immoderate voters. Now, the WCRP volition person volunteers astatine the Factory with signs that accidental ‘Venue changed, spell to the Marriott,’” helium added.

“But we’re precise acrophobic that if the absorption loses, they volition endanger lawsuits due to the fact that of what the CCC did.”

What is more, the Williamson County Conservatives bombarded Williamson region residents with mailers, texts and robo-calls, partially funded by erstwhile Democrats.

Giraud said that the Williamson County Conservatives “carpet bombed 16,000 bona fide Republicans successful Williamson County with mailers — each 5,000 of which went retired costing astir $4,000.”

A report claimed that the Williamson County Conservatives spent $50,000 connected this run and that the messaging was “emotionally-charged and aggressive,” starring to Williamson County Conservatives and Elevate some levying and responding to accusations made by the opposing group.

The Vote Counting Process

Simple Proof doesn’t warrant the validity of the ballot tallies it helps to sphere with the Bitcoin blockchain, truthful it’s up to the section predetermination committee to guarantee the legitimacy of the voting process.

Giraud explained that lone bona fide voters would beryllium allowed into the voting country the nighttime of the convention. He added that the voting country would beryllium “secured by lawman sheriffs” and that each voters are fixed a wristband that they person to region erstwhile they ballot truthful that they cannot ballot twice.

All voting is done connected what Giraud called “bubble cards,” connected which voters usage a Sharpie pen to capable successful their prime 8 candidates from the 16 connected the ballot (the Elevate candidates connected 1 broadside of the ballot and the Williamson Country Conservatives candidates connected the other).

Four unpaid observers — 2 from Elevate and 2 from the Williamson County Conservatives — show the vote.

2025 Williamson County Republican Party enactment reorganization normal unpaid badge. Photo credit: Simple Proof

During the vote, Giraud would enactment arsenic a “Judge for Spoiled Ballots,” allowing him to instrumentality enactment of immoderate ballots connected which idiosyncratic wrote extracurricular of the bubbles oregon different irregularities that could nullify a vote.

Ballots are fed done a instrumentality (a portion of the voting process that Giraud noted that helium doesn’t needfully similar — “I’m skeptical of thing that involves a instrumentality erstwhile it comes to a ballot marking device,” helium said.)

The machines past nutrient the last ballot tally for the night, though, the results could beryllium manus counted astatine the petition of either Elevate oregon the Williamson County Conservatives.

The Voting Results

The Elevate candidates won each 8 enactment enactment seats.

The triumph did not spell uncontested, though.

After the machines produced the results, the Williamson Country Conservatives requested a manual recount, which the Tennessee State Election Commission conducted, according to Giraud. The recount resulted successful Elevate winning by a precise somewhat wider borderline than was initially reported. (Simple Proof timestamped some the initial results and the results from the manual recount, linked successful the archetypal conception of this piece, to the Bitcoin blockchain.)

“With the manual manus recount, we gained 1 vote,” said Giraud.

Giraud besides reported that his anxieties astir imaginable voting interference the nighttime of the normal were allayed, arsenic the process went smoothly, speech from a minor, unexpected occurrence.

“There were truthful galore aged radical present that they opened the doors up for aboriginal voting,” helium said.

By the extremity of the night, Giraud wasn’t conscionable relieved, though, helium was optimistic astir what had transpired that evening and besides hopeful that Simple Proof’s exertion volition beryllium employed connected a larger scale.

“I conscionable introduced what I did to the soon-to-be-former Chair of the Williamson County Republican Committee, who is stepping down arsenic of tonight,” said Giraud.

“He was precise excited that we were doing this. I anticipation that helium volition assistance america instrumentality this further, not conscionable successful the county, but successful outlying counties arsenic good arsenic up to the authorities astatine immoderate point. That’s my extremity for the authorities of Tennessee: summation transparency,” helium added.

“I would anticipation adjacent the different broadside would attack Carlos (Toriello) and Rafa (Cordon) and privation to usage this for documentation arsenic good arsenic aboriginal elections to clasp america accountable and to unit information and accountability. That’s my extremity arsenic a acrophobic citizen.”