Why
is voting still so low-tech? One would think that since voting is so important,
we would use today's advanced technology to make it more secure and accessible.
Some states have started experimenting with online voting for certain citizens,
but running elections entirely online or using advanced technologies isn't on
the agenda.
Twenty states and Washington, D.C. allow some voters to
send in their ballots via email or fax. Four states use an online portal for
some voters, namely for absentee voters. Recently, though, several states have
started trying out more high-tech approaches, such as the cloud and blockchain.
West
Virginia is trying out an app called Voatz
for the mid-terms. The state will allow members of the military serving
overseas to cast their ballots through the app instead of by mail. Two counties
also opted to try out the system in the May primaries. For this November's
mid-terms, all of the electronic votes will be converted into paper ballots and
then counted with the rest of the absentees.
The
voting system uses blockchain technology, Voatz said, to record votes.
Specifically, it uses permissioned blockchain, meaning that a party must be
verified before it can submit data. In the West Virginia election, it will use
eight verified validating nodes. The nodes will be hosted in the cloud -
specifically AWS and Microsoft Azure - and geographically distributed.
To
cast a ballot, voters will need to take a video of their face and a picture of
their ID. Facial recognition technology will then verify the video and images
are of the same person. The smartphone will then anonymize the vote and record
it in the blockchain ledger. Voters will also be required to use a smartphone
with certain security features.
Potential Benefits
Since
news broke of the role Voatz will play in the West Virginia election, there has
been a spirited debate about the benefits and risks of using technology in this
way. Here are some of the reasons to use the cloud and other
technologies for elections:
-
Increased accessibility: Many voters find it
difficult to get to the polls on voting day. With cloud-based voting, people
could vote from their smartphones, something which 77 percent of Americans have.
Those without smartphones may be able to vote on home computers, work
computers, publicly available computers or in more traditional voting booths.
-
More efficient communication: The same apps that
people use to vote could help keep people informed leading up to the election.
They could provide updates and reminders about voting as well as information
about the various races and candidates. Voters could use their apps to read
articles from candidates describing their positions, view
static or interactive maps showing the areas an elected official
would represent, and watch videos online of candidates' political positions.
- Reduced cost: Taking advantage of
cloud technology for voting could also help reduce the costs of elections.
Rather than maintaining voting booth equipment, the infrastructure could be
hosted in the cloud. The cloud-based environment could also be shut down and
then re-activated during elections, limiting costs.
Potential Risks
Using
Voatz for the mid-term elections wasn't without its share of detractors. Many
people, including some tech experts, have expressed doubts about its security.
Joseph
Lorenzo Hall, chief technologist at the Center for Democracy and Technology,
told CNN that "Mobile voting is a horrific idea." He expressed
concerns about the security of smartphones, networks and servers.
Some,
include security architect Kevin Beaumont, have expressed concern that the app
is flawed. Beaumont tweeted a thread in which he took issue with various
features of the app, calling some of its technology out-of-date. Voatz fought back, saying that many
of Beaumont's claims were "incorrect or misrepresentations."
West
Virginia isn't the first to use technology like blockchain and the cloud for
elections, but this upcoming test will be the largest such experiment in the
U.S. If the election goes well, it could encourage other states to try using
more advanced tech in the same way. If something goes wrong, however, people
may lose the little trust they have in using these technologies for such
high-profile events.
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About the Author
Kayla Matthews is a tech-loving blogger who writes and edits ProductivityBytes.com. Follow her on Twitter @productibytes to read all of her latest posts!