Ballot Scout Terms of Service

Last Updated: October 12, 2020

Please review these Terms of Service (these “Terms”) carefully before using Ballot Scout, this website and any related services. These Terms are a binding agreement between you and Democracy Works Inc. (“we” or “us”). These Terms govern your use of Ballot Scout at ballotscout.org, its respective subdomains, and other websites and software applications and partner-built sites or applications containing a link to these Terms (the “Site”), and your use of Ballot Scout services described below. PLEASE READ THESE TERMS CAREFULLY AS THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS, REMEDIES, AND OBLIGATIONS. THESE TERMS INCLUDE LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS OF LIABILITY, AND A DISPUTE RESOLUTION CLAUSE THAT GOVERNS HOW DISPUTES WILL BE RESOLVED. BY USING THE SITE OR THE SERVICES, YOU ARE STATING THAT YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTAND, AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY, THESE TERMS. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS, YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED TO USE THE SITE OR OUR SERVICES.

General Description

Ballot Scout ballot tracking is a service provided by Democracy Works, Inc. in partnership with your local election officials (the “Services”). Neither the Site nor the Services are intended for use by persons under the age of 13. The Site is controlled and operated by us from our offices within the United States of America, for use of the Services within the United States of America, and is not intended to subject us to the laws or jurisdictions of any other state, country, or territory.

We may change these Terms from time to time, at our sole discretion by updating the link to these Terms wherever referenced. If any modification is unacceptable to you, your only recourse is to terminate your use of the Site and the Services. Your continued use of the Site or the Services following the posting of such changes will constitute your assent to the revised Terms. Please periodically visit the link to these Terms to review the current version of these Terms.

We will make reasonable efforts to ensure the validity and timeliness of the information and Services offered at the Site or through the Services. We will use various measures to improve the accuracy and reliability of the Site and the Services we provide. However, it is ultimately your own responsibility, as a citizen, to obtain and abide by all voter registration and election laws, eligibility requirements, deadlines, and regulations. We make no warranties or representations about the Site or the Services, including but not limited to accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or reliability. Nor can we guarantee that the Site and the Services will be kept available or updated—we reserve the right to change, suspend, or discontinue all or any part of the Site or the Services at any time without prior notice or liability to you.

Neither the Site nor the Services provide or replace individualized legal or electoral advice. Use of the Site or the Services does not create an attorney-client relationship between the user and us. If you are in need of legal advice, seek individual attorney advice and do not rely on the Site or the Services. We are not your lawyer, agent, or representative for any purpose.

Access to and Use of the Site and the Services

USE THE SITE AND THE SERVICES LEGALLY

You acknowledge that information you provide will be used by the Site and the Services to track ballots as they are processed by the United States Postal Service (“USPS”). You agree that you will not use the Site or the Services as part of an attempt to register to vote falsely, register to vote more than once, register to vote when you are not eligible, request more than one absentee ballot, request an absentee ballot when you are not eligible, commit any other type of election fraud, or violate any other federal, state, or local laws.

PRIVACY

We respect the privacy of our users. The Privacy Policy [above] is expressly incorporated herein by reference and made a part of these Terms.

ACTS AGAINST THE SITE/SERVICES

You shall not attempt or engage in potentially harmful acts that are directed against the Site or Services including, without limitation, the following: 

  1. using the Site or Services in contravention of any law or agreement;

  2. using or causing, allowing, or assisting any other person to use the Site or the Services fraudulently;

  3. emulating or faking the Site or Services, or usage of the Site or the Services;

  4. interfering or attempting to interfere with operations, functionality, or security of the Site, or the use of the Site or the Services by any other user, host, or network, including without limitation by means of submitting a virus, overloading, “flooding,” “spamming,” “mail bombing,” “pinging,” or “crashing” the Site;

  5. causing, allowing, or assisting machines, bots, or automated services to access or use the Site or Services without our express written permission; 

  6. attempting to probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Site or the Services, or any associated system or network, or breach any security or authentication measures without our express written permission;

  7. harvesting or collecting email addresses or other contact information of other users or clients from the Site or through the Services by electronic or other means; or

  8. reverse engineering, decompiling, disassembling, deciphering, or otherwise attempting to derive the source code for any underlying intellectual property used to provide the Site or Services.

Violations of system or network security may result in civil or criminal liability. You agree that it is your responsibility to install anti-virus software and related protections against viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, cancelbots, or other computer programming routines or engines that are intended to damage, destroy, disrupt, or otherwise impair a computer’s functionality or operation so that your computer or device cannot be used to facilitate any of the above actions by others. 

SITE CONTENT

As between you and us, we own all content developed or acquired by us (“Site Content”), including but not limited to our selection and arrangement of Third Party Content (as defined below), but excluding Third Party Content itself. Site Content is protected under United States and international copyright laws and is subject to other intellectual property and proprietary rights and laws. In addition, the “Ballot Scout” and “Democracy Works” names and logos, as well as certain other of the names, logos, and materials displayed in or through the Site or the Services constitute registered and unregistered trademarks, trade names, service marks, or logos (collectively, the “Marks”) of us, our partners, our affiliates, content providers, or other entities. Ownership of the Marks and the goodwill associated with them remains with us or those other entities. You are not authorized to use any Site Content or the Marks other than as expressly provided in these Terms or as expressly licensed to you. You must abide by all rights, notices, information, or restrictions contained in or attached to any Site Content and must not remove any trademark, copyright, or other notice from our Sites or any Site Content.  The Site may also contain or link to content, websites, or services that are provided by our partners, affiliates, local, state, or federal governmental entities, or other third parties (collectively, “Third Party Content”) to our Sites. We do not control any Third Party Content on our Sites. We do not approve or endorse, take no responsibility for, and assume no liability for, any Third Party Content. You use or rely on Third Party Content at your own risk. Your use of Third Party Content may be subject to terms and conditions, license agreements, and other policies and agreements applicable to such Third Party Content.

PARENTAL NOTICE

Pursuant to 47 U.S.C. Section 230(d) as amended, we hereby notify you that parental control protections (such as computer hardware, software, or filter services) are commercially available that may assist you in limiting access to material that is harmful to or not meant for the use of minors. Information identifying current providers of such protection is available on the Internet (e.g., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_content-control_software). The Site and the Services are not meant for the use of persons under the age of 13.

INFORMATION YOU PROVIDE

Information you provide to the Site or in your interaction with the Services, including but not limited to your name, address, email address, and other identifying information, should be relevant to the subject scope of the Services. Information you provide may not be false, misleading, illegal, obscene, defamatory, threatening, infringing of intellectual property rights, invasive of privacy or otherwise injurious or objectionable.

We do not pre-screen or regularly review information you provide, but we have the right (though not the obligation) to remove, without notice, any information you provide which we consider, for any reason, to violate these Terms or to be outside the subject scope of the Services. We may terminate your access to the Site or the Services, with or without notice, for providing such information.

TERMINATION

We reserve the right to restrict your access to the Site or the Services, with or without notice, for any or for no reason, and without any liability to you.

USER REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES

By providing information and/or content to the Site or by using the Services, you represent and warrant that you have all right, title, and interest to such information, including but not limited to any consent, authorization, release, clearance, or license from any third party (such as, but not limited to, any release related to rights of privacy or publicity) necessary for you to provide, post, upload, input, or submit the information and/or content, and your provision of the information and/or content does not violate any federal, state, or local law. You further represent and warrant that providing such information and/or content does not violate or constitute the infringement of any patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, right of privacy, right of publicity, moral rights, or other intellectual property right recognized by any applicable jurisdiction of any person or entity, or otherwise constitute the breach of any agreement with any other person or entity. You further represent and warrant that you are who you say you are, that you have not submitted fictitious, false, or inaccurate information about yourself, and that all information and/or content provided is true and your own information, and that the provided information and/or content does not contain any threatening, harassing, libelous, false, defamatory, offensive, obscene, or pornographic, material, or other material that would violate any other applicable law or regulation. You agree that you will not knowingly and with intent to defraud provide material and misleading information and/or content. You represent and warrant that the information and/or content you supply does not violate these Terms.

INDEMNITIES

You agree to indemnify, hold harmless, and defend us and our licensors, suppliers, officers, directors, employees, agents, affiliates, and subsidiaries (collectively “Indemnified Parties”) from and against any and all liability, loss, claim, damages, expense, or cost (including but not limited to attorneys’ fees), incurred by or made against the Indemnified Parties in connection with any claim arising from or related to your use of the Site or the Services, the placement, posting, or transmission of any messages, information, software, content, or other materials on or through the Site or the Services by you or users of your account, or any breach or violation of these Terms by you or users of your account. You agree to fully cooperate as reasonably required by any Indemnified Party(ies). Each Indemnified Party may, at its own expense, assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter for which it is indemnified hereunder. You shall not settle any matter without the consent of the applicable Indemnified Party.

Disclaimer of Warranty and Limitation of Liabilities

The information on this Site and as provided through the Services is provided free-of-charge to the end user, and we accept no liability for this Site, the Services, or the information on this Site or provided through the Services. The Site and the Services are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, or otherwise. Without limitation, we disclaim any and all warranties regarding the security, availability, reliability, timeliness, and performance of all Services associated with use of the Site. We make no warranty, express or implied, that your use of the Site or the Services will be uninterrupted, timely, or error-free. Some jurisdictions do not allow the disclaimer of certain warranties, so portions of the above disclaimer may not apply to you.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, we will not be liable for any damages of any kind arising from the use of or inability to use the Site or the Services. You expressly agree that your use of the Site and Services is solely at your own risk. Under no circumstances shall we be liable for any direct, indirect, special, or consequential damages, including but not limited to loss of profits, income, or business opportunities, regardless of the nature of the claim or the form of action, arising out of or connected with the Site (including but not limited to its operation, its contents, or the information or materials contained therein, or the use or inability to use any other site linked to the Site, or any content contained in any such site, or these Terms, or the Privacy Policy applicable to the Site) or the Services, even if we, our suppliers, or licensors have been notified of the possibility of any damages. 

Dispute Resolution

These Terms and the relationship between us will be governed by the laws of the state of New York and the Federal Arbitration Act. If any controversy or claim between you and us arises out of your use of the Site or Services or these Terms that cannot be resolved through direct discussions or mediation, the dispute shall be resolved by final and binding confidential arbitration before a single neutral arbitrator administered by the American Arbitration Association in accordance with its consumer arbitration rules or subsequent versions thereof (“AAA Rules,” available at www.adr.org) or, if the claims qualify, in small claims court. In arbitration there is no judge or jury, and court review of an arbitration award may be limited. However, an arbitrator can award on an individual basis the same damages and relief as a court. To begin an arbitration proceeding, the party bringing a claim must send a letter to the other party requesting arbitration that describes the claim. We will send the letter to the address you have provided us. You must send the letter to us at: Democracy Works Inc, 20 Jay St #410, Brooklyn, NY 11201 Attn: LEGAL. The AAA Rules for selection of an arbitrator shall be followed, except that the arbitrator shall be experienced and licensed to practice law in New York. You may choose to have the arbitration conducted by telephone, based on written submissions or in person in the county where you live or at another mutually agreed location. We each agree that the statute of limitations for asserting any claims arising out of use of the Site or Services or these Terms shall be a period of one year from your last use of the Site or affirmative interaction with the Services. We each agree that any and all disputes, claims and causes of actions arising out of or connected with these Terms or the Site or Services shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class, consolidated, or representative action. If for any reason a claim proceeds in court rather than in arbitration, we each waive any right to a jury trial. Notwithstanding the foregoing, either of us may bring suit in court to enjoin infringement or other misuse of confidential information or intellectual property rights.

Other Terms

SCOPE OF TERMS

These Terms apply to the use of the Site and the Services and any communications in connection with such use. We may operate additional projects or services which require separate or additional terms. Such different terms are made available through the individual project or service and are not addressed further herein.

NO WAIVER OF TERMS

Our failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not be deemed a waiver of such right or provision in that or any other instance.

GOVERNING LAW AND ENTIRE AGREEMENT

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of New York, without regard to the rules of conflict of law that may cause the laws of another jurisdiction to apply. You agree to the sole and exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the federal or state courts serving New York County in the event of any dispute of any kind arising from or relating to the Site or Services, or your use or review of it. These Terms constitute the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes and replaces all prior or contemporaneous understandings or agreements, written or oral, regarding such subject matter. If for any reason a court of competent jurisdiction finds any provision or portion of these Terms to be unenforceable, the remainder of these Terms will continue in full force and effect.