In just under two weeks, millions of Americans will head to the polls to elect the next President of the United States, as well as numerous down-ballot officials. For many, casting a ballot is a meaningful expression of civic duty and a point of pride in our democratic system. However, for others, the traditional voting process can be burdensome, frustrating, or even disengaging. While 66% of eligible voters turned out for the 2020 Presidential election, only 48% participated in the 2018 midterms. What if there was an alternative to casting a ballot? In this Q&A, the Ash Center sat down with Bradley Tusk, author of Vote with Your Phone, to discuss how mobile voting could not only revitalize civic engagement but also restore trust in government on a broad scale.

Ash: If mobile voting were to become accepted, what would you say to those who are concerned about cyber-attacks? How should we defend against bad actors looking to influence our elections in these ways?

Anyone interested in mobile voting should ask about security. It would be crazy not to. That’s why we’ve spent so much time and money building new technology that is end-to-end encrypted, end-to-end verifiable, accessible, and open source. Here’s how it works:

  1. Let’s say you’re a registered voter in Cambridge, Massachusetts. You go to the App Store and download the app from your local election officials. You then enter your info to ensure you’re a registered voter.
  2. Once that’s established, a text code is sent to your phone, which you enter into the app, known as multi-factor authentication. When your identity is confirmed, the ballot appears on your screen. The goal is to make the ballot as simple and as accessible as possible so it’s easy to use.
  3. You fill out your ballot, electronically seal your ballot, and submit it, you can use a separate device to perform a ballot check to encrypt your ballot and make sure it’s accurate before casting.

Read the full article about mobile voting by Gina Goldenberg at Ash Center.