History

PoiVOTE was established in 2010 to progress the concept of issue based direct democracy.

For the first year the focus was on developing software that would document all upcoming government decisions and allow people to vote and comment on these decisions.

From 2012 PoliVOTE published the decisions of a local government area (Richmond Valley NSW) and citizens voted on these decisions. Much of the evidence for this can still be seen on the PoliVOTE Facebook page.

In 2013 PoliVOTE started to promote the ideas of using technology to change democracy via a series of webinars. Many of these were run for existing politicians and government officials. It continued to publish decisions for Richmond Valley Council area.

In 2014 PoliVOTE started focusing on research into orgainsations that were Social Enterprises (organisations that make money and positive social change at the same time). It continued to publish decisions for Richmond Valley Council area.

In 2015 PoliVOTE focused on promoting the idea of the need for 4 Dimensions of Democracy via conferences and other means. It continued to publish decisions for Richmond Valley Council area.

In 2016 & 17 PoliVOTE undertook research that examined organisations in Australia and NZ that promoted changes to democracy. The final book "OZ & NZ: Spirit of Democracy" was the result of this research. During this time PoliVOTE ceased publication of decisions for the Richmond Valley Council Area.

In 2018 PoliVOTE, based on the results of the research in the OZ & NZ: Spirit of Democracy PoliVOTE again changed focus to looking at:

• The nexus between the personal and the political and the therapeutic benefits of being politically involved after experiencing trauma or discrimination.
• Facilitating networking between the organisations in the OZ & NZ: Spirit of Democracy book in order to build critical mass and strategic alliances for the cause of evolving democracy.