• AI Domains
  • Pricing
  • Membership

    • .vote

    Generic top-level domainsIDNDNSSEC

    Overview

    .VOTE is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) introduced through ICANN's New gTLD Program. The string is intended for election- and politics-related online spaces where voters can find information from candidates, governments and bona fide political participants. The .VOTO string is its Spanish/Portuguese/Italian counterpart.

    History

    • Applicant and manager: Monolith Registry LLC submitted the winning application; Afilias provides back-end registry services.
    • Contention and resolution: The Monolith application was in contention with Donuts and was resolved in June 2013 via a private auction facilitated by Innovative Auctions.
    • Registry Agreement and delegation:
      • Registry Agreement signed by ICANN: November 21, 2013.
      • Delegated to the DNS Root Zone: March 2, 2014.
    • Launch timeline:
      • Sunrise Period: January 13, 2015 – February 12, 2015.
      • General Availability opened: February 17, 2015.

    Usage and Audience

    • Target registrants:
      • Governmental organizations
      • Political candidates
      • Political action committees (PACs) and political committees
      • Other registrants engaged in clearly identified political or democratic processes
    • Purpose: Provide a recognizable Internet space to reduce confusion around domain names and help voters find reliable information about governments, officials and candidates.
    • Examples of institutional adoption:
      • Eight U.S. states have registered .vote domains: Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Colorado (not live), Iowa, Louisiana, Rhode Island, Washington. Seven of these (excluding Colorado) had live voter-information sites.
    • Candidate usage:
      • Some 2016 U.S. presidential primary candidates used .vote domains, including Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Carly Fiorina.

    Registration Rules

    • Eligibility:
      • Registrants must have a bona fide intention to use the domain during the current or relevant election cycle and in connection with a clearly identified political/democratic process.
      • Warehousing or registering to block bona fide third-party use is prohibited.
    • Name selection:
      • There must be a clear, logical nexus between the registrant's political activities and the chosen domain.
      • Registrants must intend to use the name to promote, educate, engage or conduct commerce related to the political system.
      • Domain names likely to deceive, disparage or materially harm the .VOTE brand or Internet users are explicitly prohibited (examples include disparaging candidate names).
      • Default allocation: First-Come, First-Serve; the registry reserves the right to use alternative allocation mechanisms.
    • WHOIS / Privacy:
      • Proxy or private registrations are not allowed; accurate registrant data must be available in WHOIS at all times.
    • Compliance and abuse handling:
      • The registry employs an audit mechanism and processes for reporting, investigating and removing non-compliant names when warranted.
      • Abuse reports may be sent to abuse@afilias.info.

    SEO and Brand Impact

    • Intended brand effect:
      • .VOTE and .VOTO aim to create an easily recognizable Internet space specifically for election-related content to reduce confusion and help voters find reliable information.
    • Brand protection:
      • The registry enforces policies (eligibility checks, audits and prohibition of deceptive/disparaging names) to protect the integrity of the .VOTE brand and its users.

    Notable Cases or Examples

    • Private auction: The contention between Monolith and Donuts was settled in a private auction in June 2013—the first reported private gTLD auction leading to withdrawal of an application.
    • Government adoption: Several U.S. states registered .vote domains for official voter information sites.
    • Candidate adoption: High-profile 2016 primary candidates adopted .vote domains as part of campaign and voter-information strategies.

    Operator

    Monolith Registry LLC

    Whois

    % IANA WHOIS server
% for more information on IANA, visit http://www.iana.org
% This query returned 1 object

domain:       VOTE

organisation: Monolith Registry LLC
address:      746 East Winchester St
address:      Salt Lake City UT 84107
address:      United States of America (the)

contact:      administrative
name:         Vice President, Engineering
organisation: Identity Digital Limited
address:      10500 NE 8th Street, Suite 750
address:      Bellevue WA 98004
address:      United States of America (the)
phone:        +1.425.298.2200
fax-no:       +1.425.671.0020
e-mail:       tldadmin@identity.digital

contact:      technical
name:         Senior Director, DNS Infrastructure Group
organisation: Identity Digital Limited
address:      10500 NE 8th Street, Suite 750
address:      Bellevue WA 98004
address:      United States of America (the)
phone:        +1.425.298.2200
fax-no:       +1.425.671.0020
e-mail:       tldtech@identity.digital

nserver:      A0.NIC.VOTE 2a01:8840:a2:0:0:0:0:9 65.22.168.9
nserver:      A2.NIC.VOTE 2a01:8840:a5:0:0:0:0:9 65.22.171.9
nserver:      B0.NIC.VOTE 2a01:8840:a3:0:0:0:0:9 65.22.169.9
nserver:      C0.NIC.VOTE 2a01:8840:a4:0:0:0:0:9 65.22.170.9
ds-rdata:     62749 8 2 101d2ae9c31fbe10078e74d477010aa5c8966d814421123a893b8b0e7b46891a

whois:        whois.nic.vote

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: https://www.identity.digital/

created:      2014-02-13
changed:      2023-09-01
source:       IANA

    Registrars