You really should be reading the info page. It does a great job explaining the whys and the wherefores. But to cut a long story short, we've been reading all over about how people are really confused whether to vote for a candidate who is not likely to win the election. Take the case of Joe who lives in the swing state of Michigan. Opinion polls tell us that every vote cast in the state of Michigan is going to matter -- the election is going to be that close. It could be that Joe really wishes to vote for (to use a celebrated example) Ralph Nader. On the other hand, Joe is worried that by voting for Nader, he might helping Bush indirectly. This has Joe in a quandary. Should he use his vote to send a message about how he feels about the two leading candidates in the race and really help Nader get the traction that he requires? Or should he vote for Gore to ensure that Gore doesn't lose Michigan? Jane who lives in Texas and supports Gore has a different problem. Bush is slated to win the state by a wide margin anyway -- she might not even bother voting. There is a solution to their problem, however. If Joe voted Gore and Jane voted Nader instead, they help each other's cause. Jane has helped elect Gore since she really would like Gore to win. Joe has helped Nader get the votes that he would have got if he had voted Nader himself.

Wait a moment, how do I vote in a different state?

You don't. You vote your counterpart's preferences. Your counterpart votes your preference in a different state.

But if we're voting each others preference, why not just vote our own?

This has to do with the way that we elect our president. The candidate with the most votes need not win the election. It is the candidate with the most votes in the electoral college. Since voting by state in the electoral college is generally winner-take-all, it's more important for the candidates to win states than to win the majority of the over all vote.

But I've already been/never been to college. Does that affect me?

The electoral college affects everybody. Sadly, it is not a college that you or I could go to. We get to elect it though. Here is a page that explains how the electoral college works.

Maybe I'm getting it. So what exactly happens at your website?

You tell us what state you're from, whom you're thinking of voting for, and whether you would mind voting for someone else instead. We look at your responses, and if it looks like you might have a vote that could be exchanged, we put your email address in our database. As soon as we find someone whose voting preferences complements yours, we send each of you the others email address. From here on, it is up to both of you to contact each other and take it from there.

How do I know that the deal went through? That the other person actually voted for my candidate?

There is no way to be absolutely definitely certainly 100% sure. That's the point of the secret ballot. We're working on the honor system here. On the whole, people are trustworthy. We trust in the innate goodness of people. You're trustworthy. Why shouldn't everybody else be? You're in email contact with this person: we're sure you could take some reasonable measures to insure that you could trust the other person.

But I get a creepy feeling about this person I'm corresponding with.

No problem. Call the deal off. Come right back to votexchange2000.com and re-register. We'll put you in touch with another person. Do it till you're satisfied.

You're kidding! I can register as many times as I want? That's brain dead. Why shouldn't I abuse the system?

See our earlier comment about trusting people. We trust you. Sure, there could be some people who abuse the system. But there would be enough people who use the system correctly that the abusers would be insignificant in comparison.

Is all this legal?

It is not illegal to vote. It is not illegal to discuss your voting preferences with someone else either. It is illegal to pay someone to vote on your behalf, or even get paid to vote yourself. Stay away from the money. Just vote.

Are you a lawyer?

No.

Do you have any background in law?

No.

Will you spam me?

No. We speak as daily recipients of spam ourselves. In fact, if you know of good spam prevention measures, we'd love to hear about it. But seriously, as soon as we send you email with the email address of the person you must contact, your email address is purged from our databases. In fact, that is exactly why you can register multiple times. We send you email as soon as we find a match. This means that your address stays in our database only as long as strictly necessary. Our privacy policy explains what information we gather and how we use it. You are encouraged to read it and satisfy yourself that it is safe to use our service.

Why should I trust you on that?

Trust us, we're on the level.