"Bitcoin Secures GOP Leadership Vote: Williamson County Turns to Blockchain for Transparency"

The Williamson County Republican Party in Tennessee held its convention on March 4, 2025, where "bona fide" Republicans voted for the future of their party's local leadership. The two main groups, Elevate and the Williamson County Republicans, each presented a slate of eight candidates. The final results of the vote were committed to Bitcoin block 886,370 using Simple Proof's Immutable Proof service, which employs the OpenTimestamps protocol to help protect public records.

Simple Proof, a company that preserves the integrity of documents by committing digital versions in the arbitrary data field of a bitcoin transaction, has proven effective in securing election records. The company previously helped secure vote tallies for the 2023 Presidential election in Guatemala and the 2024 election in Screven County, Georgia. Steve Giraud, a concerned Republican voter from Williamson County, reached out to Simple Proof to employ its services for the Williamson County Republican leadership election.

Tensions ran high before the convention, with Giraud expressing concerns about potential interference and legal challenges. The Williamson County Conservatives, the opposing group to Giraud's Elevate, ran a misinformation campaign and sent mailers, texts, and robo-calls to Williamson County residents. The vote counting process was secured by deputy sheriffs, and only bona fide voters were allowed to participate. The voting was done on bubble cards, and the results were produced by machines, with the option for a manual recount.

The Elevate candidates won all eight party leadership seats, but the Williamson Country Conservatives requested a manual recount. The recount resulted in Elevate winning by a slightly wider margin. Giraud, relieved that the process went smoothly, expressed optimism about the use of Simple Proof's technology in future elections to increase transparency and accountability.