Mobile voting effort comes to D.C.
The push for smartphone-enabled voting funded by venture capitalist Bradley Tusk is eying the nation’s capital as its next proving ground.
The push for smartphone-enabled voting funded by venture capitalist Bradley Tusk is eying the nation’s capital as its next proving ground.
Tusk is partnering with some of his former critics to develop a new mobile-voting platform he hopes can be used eventually by “millions of voters.”
Former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will head up a panel of election and cybersecurity experts to create some standards for the oft-criticized practice.
A pair of election security researchers write in a new paper that the platform, which a handful of states are using, lacks adequate security and privacy controls.
After audits revealed vulnerabilities in the mobile-voting app, a backer of several of its pilots admitted Voatz “needs to address some of the concerns.”
The audit, which was authorized by Voatz itself, upheld findings of a February report by MIT that the company has tried to dispute.
Legislation that would order election officials to study the feasibility of mobile voting statewide has already passed the state House, and is making its way through the Utah Senate.
Researchers claimed they found flaws that allowed them to alter ballots or compromise voters’ anonymity, but Voatz said their findings were based on an outdated version of the app.
The company, Voatz, said Sen. Ron Wyden’s letter asking his home state to reconsider the use of its mobile-voting app “increases the fear of technology.”
StateScoop and NASCIO look ahead to the issues expected to affect CIOs most in 2020, from election security to robotic process automation.