Utah County in the state of Utah, United States, is set to make
history. For the first time ever, mobile voting will be offered to voters
with disabilities registered in Utah County for their upcoming municipal
general elections in November. The facility has been offered only to military
and overseas voters until now and the success of the exercise could hold
lessons for the Election Commission of India and the disabled community here
which faces many barriers to voting in an accessible manner.
Disabled voters in Utah County can use their smartphones to vote in the
municipal elections to be held in November this year. The county, located in
the state of Utah, has nearly 43,000 registered voters with
disabilities. The county has partnered with Tusk
Philanthropies, a non-profit that aims to expand mobile voting
across the United States.
What mobile voting does is allow users to vote from their mobile phones using
blockchain technology. This makes the voting process more
accessible and hassle-free to communities that tend to get left out. The
success of this initiative could offer valuable lessons to the
Election Commission of India (ECI).
So far, mobile voting in the US has been offered to military and overseas
voters only. In this year, a mobile voting pilot was held in Utah County and
this was audited by the National Cybersecurity Center (NCC).
The audit for the municipal primary election showed that votes cast over the
blockchain were recorded and tabulated accurately. NCC worked with
Voatz to develop a tool that displays the voter-verified
receipt, tabulated ballot image and the blockchain transaction.
Members of the public took part in the auditing process as well and no doubts
were raised about the veracity of the election. Given the success, the
decision was made to extend the pilot for the November elections and expand
the option to disabled voters.
This is the first election where we are expanding mobile voting for the
disability community and providing them the option to vote from their
mobile device. We are making voting accessible to new communities,
increasing voter turnout, conducting new pilots and auditing that each
election to ensure that votes cast over the blockchain are recorded
accurately. – Bradley Tusk, Founder-CEO, Tusk
Philanthropies
Commending election officials, like those in Utah County, for offering
options to disabled voters, Sherri Newton, Voting Advocate
at the Disability Law Center said that the new technologies
being developed would help voters with diverse needs exercise their civic
right. “The barriers involved with traveling to a polling place make it
difficult to vote, which can require them to miss work or can be a threat to
their health and safety. These voters are excited about the availability of
new, developing technologies that allow them to securely vote at home from
their own device, just like many other Utahns have seen with the option of
voting by mail.”
Eligible voters will be able to participate in the November election by
opting in to vote electronically on their smartphones. Voters will fill out
an absentee ballot request, complete their identity authentication and
verification on the Voatz application, and submit their ballot for the
election. Voting began 20 September 2019 and continues through 8 PM on
Election Day, that’s 5 November 2019.
“We are enabling an entire community to vote anonymously, privately, and
securely from the comfort of their own home using their own accessible
device,” said Forrest Senti, Director of Business and Government
Initiatives, National Cybersecurity Center. The NBC will collaborate
with Utah County officials and the disability community to conduct a
post-election audit to make sure that votes cast over the blockchain are
recorded accurately.
The Utah County Election Division also hosted a livestream
with NCC publicly auditing the municipal primary election. These measures
have come in for much praise. “Election officials in Utah County are leading
the way when it comes to improving absentee voting methods for citizens with
disabilities”, said Nimit Sawhney, CEO and Co-founder,
Voatz. Voatz is experienced in the field of voting technology and
conducted the first blockchain-based mobile voting pilot for a federal
election in West Virginia in 2018.
“Getting to polling locations, marking a paper ballot, and communicating with
election officials are just a few of the challenges that citizens with
disabilities face with the traditional voting process”, adds Sawhney. “By
taking advantage of the various accessibility features available on modern
smartphones and tablets, mobile voting provides a safe, private and
convenient channel for citizens with disabilities to play a more active role
in our democratic process.”
Utah County could serve as an example to not just the rest of the US but also
countries like India, which is looking at ways to make the voting process
more accessible and secure to people with disabilities.
watch this video by Tusk Philanthropies.
