[liberationtech] "FEC forms" and Wevoyce (was Re: Rebuttal to "The Social Dilemma" Movie)
Yosem Companys
ycompanys at gmail.com
Sun Oct 4 00:08:29 CEST 2020
Hey Dave,
My reply inline below:
Does Wevoyce only donate to candidates for
> federal office, or is the term "FEC forms" used to generically mean
> campaign finance forms (for the FEC for federal candidates, and for the
> equivalent state and local agencies for state and local candidates)?
>
Sorry for the confusion. I used the term generically. We are currently
approved for use for national purposes and 28 states and local
jurisdictions. We are working on the remaining 22, which have a hodgepodge
of requirements.
> Does "filling out and
> submittal of FEC forms" really mean providing the information to the
> candidates (so their campaign treasurers can file the appropriate
> forms)? Or by acting as an intermediary for donations, does Wevoyce
> itself (or an associated committee) have to file with the FEC (and, if
> relevant, state and local agencies) and its collecting the information
> for those filings? Or is Wevoyce actually filing forms for the
> candidates' campaigns?
>
We developed the app in close collaboration with an attorney recognized as
one of the leading experts on campaign finance and who served as an FEC
commissioner for 10+ years.
We are a pass-through entity that automatically bundles small and large
donations and does the paperwork for the campaigns, so they do not have to
do so, but the campaign treasurers ultimately still are required by law to
submit the paperwork to the FEC and similar compliance entities at the
state and local level.
We are not a PAC and do not donate to PACs. In fact, our hope is to become
large enough to render PACs obsolete.
Only individuals may open accounts on our platform, not groups or
individuals. For example, candidates join as individuals but have to enter
their EIN to validate as candidates. Similarly, executives of PACs and
advocacy groups can join, but they can only do so as individuals.
> /Dave Kadlecek
>
>
> Yosem Companys via cpsr-activists list wrote:
>
> > Yes, the plan is for the landing page to have an opt-in checkmark
> > specifying this.
> >
> > On Sat, Oct 3, 2020 at 12:14 PM Paul <tallpaul at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > That's a great convenience. However, my initial impression would
> > be that you will really want to have people click an <okay> button
> > to acknowledge that they want you to fill out a form for them,
> > since, among other things, this now makes their donations publicly
> > searchable, I believe. And just so that they know that you are
> > doing it.
> >
> > Paul Cz
> >
> > On Sat, Oct 3, 2020, 12:03 PM Yosem Companys <ycompanys at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > Also, we are working on making the filling out and submittal
> > of FEC forms automatic, so people will do so without even
> > realizing it upon signing up for the app.
> >
> > On Sat, Oct 3, 2020 at 12:01 PM Yosem Companys
> > <ycompanys at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Agreed. Unfortunately, FEC form is required for donating.
> > For candidates (especially local ones), however, our app
> > would streamline campaign finance because our app does all
> > the paperwork automatically in the back end, so candidates
> > would dramatically reduce the administrative burdens that
> > often prevent them from being able to accept small donations.
> >
> > On Sat, Oct 3, 2020 at 11:50 AM Paul <tallpaul at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > Thank you for the response, Yosem.
> > #2 (the second #2 😛) is especially interesting,
> > though filling out an FEC form feels to me like a
> > fairly big obstacle to entry for users.
> >
> > Paul Cz.
> >
> > On Sat, Oct 3, 2020, 8:35 AM Yosem Companys
> > <ycompanys at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > 1. Wevoyce doesn't return any hits on Google
> > Play. Is the app only available from your site,
> > at this time?
> >
> > The app is approved for the Apple and Android
> > stores, but we have yet to open for downloads. The
> > only way to download the app at this time is via
> > special link. I will send you one separately.
> >
> > 2. When it talks about propositions (I think that
> > was the word) does this mean only actual laws,
> > ballot proposals, etc, or does it mean just
> > something that someone advocates and is looking
> > for support for?
> >
> > Think of a prop as a 435-character petition
> > labeled by a hashtag. There are two types:
> >
> > * ?VoteFor props that are automatically tied
> > to candidates (e.g., ?VoteForBiden or
> > ?VoteForTrump).
> > * Props focused on causes (e.g.,
> > ?SupportProChoice or ?SupportProLife).
> >
> > Users can interact with props as they would on
> > social media:
> >
> > * Follow props.
> > * Reply to props.
> > * Like props.
> > * Etc.
> >
> > 2. Do you have to put in $5 in order to use the
> > app, or just if you want to contribute?
> >
> > No, just if you want to contribute.
> >
> > Participation is tiered based on real-world
> > validation:
> >
> > * Using the app is free (i.e., there is no
> > financial cost to using the app). Anyone may
> > download the app, set up an account, and do
> > the following: (1) read propositions, (2)
> > read what people post, and (3) vote on props
> > and what people say.
> > * Anyone who registers to vote (and thus
> > verifies they are a real person) may post.
> > * Anyone who fills out the FEC form may
> > donate. To ensure real people have a real
> > impact, donating occurs via liking, as
> > little as a penny. We call it, "Put your $
> > where your <3 is." Anytime you like
> > something, you are donating to it, so you
> > need to put at least $5 in your account to
> > like things.
> >
> > One thing to note is that all the donations end up
> > going to political candidates in at least three
> > ways (and this is how we are campaign finance
> > reform in an app):
> >
> > * You may donate to candidates directly via
> > their VoteFor prop.
> > * You may advocate candidates. If anyone likes
> > you, any likes (i.e., real money) you
> > receive go to the candidate(s) you advocate.
> > * You may donate to a cause prop, and
> > politicians who publicly commit to support
> > these causes get a share of the donations.
> > (You are told in advance who will get your
> > donations.)
> >
> > Reading, voting, and donating can be private.
> > Posting is always public.
> >
> > On Thu, Oct 1, 2020 at 12:55 PM Paul
> > <tallpaul at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > Hi Yosem,
> > I just started the signup process and I
> > have three questions:
> > 1) do you have to put in $5 in order to
> > use the app, or just if you want to contribute?
> > 2) Wevoyce doesn't return any hits on
> > Google Play. Is the app only available from
> > your site, at this time?
> > 3) when it talks about propositions (I
> > think that was the word) does this mean only
> > actual laws, ballot proposals, etc, or does it
> > mean just something that someone advocates and
> > is looking for support for?
> >
> > Thanks
> > Paul
> >
> > On Thu, Oct 1, 2020, 12:18 PM Paul
> > <tallpaul at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Yosem,
> > Thanks for letting us know about
> > Wevoyce. I just skimmed it but the bits
> > about "real people*," upvoting and,
> > especially, micro donations, sound very
> > interesting.
> > Since my career has been in software
> > testing, I will at least try it and let
> > you know about anything I see.
> >
> > Paul Czyzewski
> >
> > * As long as you don't get swamped by real
> > people who are, for example, Proud Boys or
> > NRA members
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Oct 1, 2020, 12:04 PM Yosem
> > Companys <ycompanys at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Excellent point, Nathaniel.
> >
> > Some of us at Liberationtech have
> > gotten together to try to fix
> > political discourse on social media
> > and campaign finance by developing a
> > new mobile-based solution called
> > Wevoyce. If you and others on the list
> > would like to check it out and give us
> > feedback, please let me know. We would
> > really appreciate it.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Yosem
> >
> > On Thu, Oct 1, 2020 at 11:42 AM
> > Nathaniel Borenstein via
> > cpsr-activists list
> > <cpsr-activists at lists.cpsr.org>
> > wrote:
> >
> > This may sound naive, but here goes…
> >
> > Social media are just the latest
> > way for people to communicate.
> > All the other ways we have found
> > to communicate have allowed us to
> > express both the best and the
> > worst of ourselves. It’s often
> > easier to figure out how to
> > express the worst, but that
> > doesn’t mean we can’t focus on the
> > best.
> >
> > To my mind the right question is
> > this: how can we use social media
> > to create countervailing trends to
> > the ones we have spent so much
> > time bemoaning?
> >
> > Unfortunately it is possible that
> > the best answers to this question
> > will require wrenching control of
> > the social media landscape from
> > big companies, but I suspect there
> > is a fair amount we can do short
> > of that. — Nathaniel
> >
> ...
>
>
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