Democracy Live
Democracy Live provides cloud-based accessible voting technology (OmniBallot platform and Tablet) to state and local government election offices, serving 2,500+ jurisdictions across 36 states and UOCAVA voters in 180+ countries, with HAVA, WCAG 2.2 AA, SOC 2 Type II, and ISO 27001 certifications.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2007
- HeadquartersSeattle, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Democracy Live does
Democracy Live, Inc. is a Seattle-based private company founded in 2007 by Bryan Finney that provides cloud-based accessible voting technology to state and local government election offices in the United States. Its core product, the OmniBallot Elections Portal, is a multi-modular SaaS platform hosted on AWS that delivers remote accessible balloting for voters with disabilities, UOCAVA ballot delivery and electronic return for military and overseas voters, ballot auto-duplication (ReMarkable), ballot cure, accessible sample ballots, and emergency ballot modules. Its second product, the OmniBallot Tablet, is a HAVA-compliant ballot marking device built on Dell COTS hardware running Windows 10 IoT Enterprise, certified by an EAC-approved independent test lab and positioned as a lower-cost alternative to traditional BMDs (up to 50% claimed cost reduction).
Democracy Live firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Democracy Live
- Legal name
- Democracy Live, Inc.
- Website
- https://democracylive.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2007
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Democracy Live provides cloud-based accessible voting technology (OmniBallot platform and Tablet) to state and local government election offices, serving 2,500+ jurisdictions across 36 states and UOCAVA voters in 180+ countries, with HAVA, WCAG 2.2 AA, SOC 2 Type II, and ISO 27001 certifications.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Democracy Live industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Election Administration Software
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Electoral Support & Election Observation (BPADAGAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Democracy, Voting Rights & Civic Participation Advocacy (BPAGAFAJ)
Keywords
Where Democracy Live is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Seattle
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Democracy Live business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- SaaS / Subscription for Elections Portal: Democracy Live provides its OmniBallot cloud-based elections portal as a subscription/SaaS service to state and local government election jurisdictions. Customers pay for access to one or more modules of the portal on a per-election or annual contract basis.
- OmniBallot Tablet Hardware Sales: The company sells COTS-based OmniBallot Tablet ballot marking devices to election jurisdictions. These are one-time hardware purchases supplemented by software licensing.
- Professional Services: Implementation, configuration, and support services provided to government election offices deploying OmniBallot products.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Quote-based government contracts |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels8 records
Democracy Live product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Democracy Live provides the OmniBallot cloud-based elections portal, a multi-modular web platform delivering remote accessible balloting, electronic ballot return, ballot auto-duplication, ballot cure, and accessible sample ballots for U.S. state and local government election offices. The company also sells the OmniBallot Tablet, an off-the-shelf, HAVA-compliant accessible ballot marking device built on Dell Windows 10 IoT Enterprise hardware for use in polling locations.
Product overview
Democracy Live offers a platform-plus-modules architecture centered on two core products: the Democracy Live Elections Portal (OmniBallot Portal) and the OmniBallot Tablet. The Elections Portal is a multi-modular Web-based system offering UOCAVA Solutions for military/overseas voters, Accessible Absentee voting, Electronic Ballot Return, Ballot Auto-Duplication (ReMarkable), Accessible Sample Ballot & Voter Guide, Ballot Cure, Emergency Ballot, and CitizenCheck modules. The OmniBallot Tablet is a standalone HAVA-compliant ballot marking device for polling place use. The company previously offered LiveBallot (legacy interactive voter information product). All solutions are designed for accessibility and security, serving state and local governments across the United States.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- OmniBallot: The flagship cloud-based elections portal providing remote, accessible balloting, electronic ballot return, ballot auto-duplication, accessible sample ballots, and ballot cure solutions for state and local governments.
- LiveBallot
- OmniBallot Tablet
- ReMarkable
Products and services
- Democracy Live Elections Portal (OmniBallot Portal) A multi-modular, cloud-based, web-based election portal offering remote accessible balloting, ADA-compliant ballot marking, electronic ballot return, ballot auto-duplication, ballot cure, and accessible sample ballots for U.S. state and local government election offices. Modules include UOCAVA Solutions, Accessible Absentee, Electronic Ballot Return, Ballot Auto-Duplication (ReMarkable), Ballot Cure, Accessible Sample Ballot & Voter Guide, Emergency Ballot, and CitizenCheck.
- OmniBallot Tablet An off-the-shelf, HAVA-compliant accessible ballot marking device used in polling locations for voters with disabilities, leveraging Dell hardware and Windows 10 IoT Enterprise to print voter selections onto paper ballots; certified by EAC-approved test lab SLI and capable of up to 50% cost reduction versus traditional BMDs.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 7,000 elections and 20 million voters served since 2008 with zero compromises
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Democracy Live
Customer profileNamed customers12 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Democracy Live technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature10 records
Democracy Live partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered minor / emerging partnership, core security partner, core infrastructure partner, core hardware partner, core technology partner, research and advisory partner and advisory and advocacy partner.
- Mobile Voting Foundation and Free & Fairminor / emerging partnershipDemocracy Live is not directly named in the VoteSecure SDK announcement, but the Mobile Voting Foundation and Free & Fair released VoteSecure, an open-source SDK for secure mobile voting. This is a separate ecosystem development relevant to the voting technology space.
- Critical Insightcore security partnerCritical Insight, a nationally recognized cybersecurity firm founded by former Seattle CISO Michael Hamilton, provides independent 24/7 monitoring of the OmniBallot balloting portal before, during, and after each election. First time an elections technology company engaged independent 24/7 cybersecurity monitoring.
- Synackcore security partnerSynack provides continuous penetration testing for OmniBallot via its Synack365 service, with over 1,500 vetted cybersecurity researchers testing the platform 24/7/365. Synack researchers have found zero vulnerabilities in OmniBallot in multiple testing cycles. Synack is the premier on-demand security platform for continuous penetration testing.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)core infrastructure partnerDemocracy Live hosts its OmniBallot platform on AWS, which has been certified for use by federal agencies under FedRAMP — approved for CIA, FBI, DHS, NSA, and Department of Defense. AWS provides the cloud infrastructure underlying all Democracy Live election services.
- Dellcore hardware partnerDemocracy Live partnered with Dell and Microsoft to create the OmniBallot Tablet — the first stand-alone accessible balloting device using Dell off-the-shelf hardware. Dell provides the COTS hardware for the OmniBallot Tablet ballot marking device.
- Microsoftcore technology partnerDemocracy Live leverages Windows 10 IoT Enterprise for the OmniBallot Tablet, utilizing its built-in security and accessibility features. The LiveBallot system was developed in partnership with and funded by Microsoft. Microsoft Azure Government cloud is used for the accessible sample ballot platform.
- University of Washington Center for Technologies and Disabilitiesresearch and advisory partnerCollaboration with the University of Washington's Center for Technologies and Disabilities in developing accessible voting technologies. The Center has provided endorsements of Democracy Live's accessible voting system.
- Harvard Law School Project on Disabilityadvisory and advocacy partnerHarvard Law School Project on Disability has provided testimonials praising Democracy Live's accessible voting technologies and universal design approach.
Scale indicators10 records
Recent moves4 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Democracy Live competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Election Systems & Software (ES&S): ES&S is the largest U.S. voting equipment vendor, providing voting machines, BMDs, and election management software to the majority of U.S. counties. Comparable as a direct competitor for HAVA-compliant election technology contracts with the same state and local government buyers.
- Hart InterCivic: Hart InterCivic provides election equipment including ballot marking devices, voting terminals, and election management software used across many U.S. states. Directly competes with Democracy Live in the HAVA-compliant BMD category and serves the same state and local government election offices.
- Dominion Voting Systems: Dominion is a major provider of voting machines, BMDs, and election management systems to U.S. state and local jurisdictions. Direct peer in certified voting equipment procurement, though Democracy Live's remote/cloud portal is differentiated from Dominion's on-premises equipment focus.
- KNOWiNK: KNOWiNK provides electronic poll book software and voter verification/check-in solutions to U.S. election jurisdictions. Comparable as adjacent election-tech infrastructure sold to the same state/local government procurement channels and integrated with broader election administration workflows.
- ClearBallot Group: ClearBallot provides election technology including ballot scanning, auditing, and election management solutions to U.S. jurisdictions. Competes for state/local government election contracts with comparable emphasis on accuracy, transparency, and election integrity.
Emerging players
- VotingWorks: VotingWorks builds open-source election technology, including risk-limiting audit software and accessible ballot marking tools. Comparable as a competing approach to accessible ballot marking and election administration technology, with overlapping focus on accessibility and security, though a much smaller and open-source-led organization.
- Voatz: Voatz was an early mobile-voting platform using blockchain verification for UOCAVA and overseas voters, overlapping with OmniBallot's core UOCAVA remote ballot delivery use case. Represents an emerging/competing approach to mobile and remote voting technology.
Regional players
- Scytl: Scytl is a Spain-based election technology provider specializing in election management software, electronic voting, and post-election auditing for international customers. Comparable as a cloud-based election technology peer in the international/UOCAVA-adjacent space, though Geography and customer base are largely non-overlapping with Democracy Live.
Broad incumbents
- Microsoft (ElectionGuard): Microsoft is a core technology partner (Azure Government cloud, Windows 10 IoT Enterprise) and also develops the ElectionGuard open-source SDK for end-to-end verifiable elections. Broad incumbent with overlapping civic-tech ambitions; positioned as enabler/partner rather than direct competitor.
Others
- Mobile Voting Foundation: Mobile Voting Foundation is a non-profit ecosystem organization advancing secure mobile and remote voting, including the recent VoteSecure SDK released with Free & Fair. Comparable as an ecosystem/standards participant shaping the future of mobile voting alongside Democracy Live, though not a commercial competitor.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Democracy Live social profiles
Digital presenceDemocracy Live compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance5 records
Democracy Live financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Democracy Live leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
Democracy Live funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Democracy Live M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Democracy Live
What does Democracy Live do?
Democracy Live provides the OmniBallot cloud-based elections portal, a multi-modular web platform delivering remote accessible balloting, electronic ballot return, ballot auto-duplication, ballot cure, and accessible sample ballots for U.S. state and local government election offices. The company also sells the OmniBallot Tablet, an off-the-shelf, HAVA-compliant accessible ballot marking device built on Dell Windows 10 IoT Enterprise hardware for use in polling locations.
Is Democracy Live a public or private company?
Democracy Live is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Democracy Live founded?
Democracy Live was founded in 2007. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Democracy Live based?
Democracy Live is headquartered in Seattle, United States, in the North America region.
How does Democracy Live make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. SaaS / Subscription for Elections Portal is the primary driver. The others are omniBallot Tablet Hardware Sales and professional Services.
Who are Democracy Live's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Election Systems & Software (ES&S), Hart InterCivic, Dominion Voting Systems, KNOWiNK and ClearBallot Group. Emerging players are VotingWorks and Voatz. Scytl is listed as a regional player. Microsoft (ElectionGuard) is listed as a broad incumbent. Mobile Voting Foundation is listed as an others.
Does Democracy Live have an API?
No public API is recorded for Democracy Live.
What industry is Democracy Live in?
Democracy Live's product category is Election Administration Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPADAGAA, Electoral Support & Election Observation, with a secondary code of BPAGAFAJ, Democracy, Voting Rights & Civic Participation Advocacy. Its NAICS code is 5182 and its SIC code is 7373.