Military voters stationed overseas will be able to cast votes for the 2020 presidential election, thanks to a mobile app that uses a private blockchain. But is it too risky?
Startup Voatz created an app that can enhance participation by overseas voters, reports MIT Technology Review. And West Virginia’s elections director Donald Kersey thinks it’s a better, more secure alternative to using mail-in ballots. But not everyone agrees. Election security experts, in particular, oppose online voting of any kind. In fact, cryptographers, computer scientists, and political scientists, have determined that internet voting systems cannot preserve the secrecy expected from democratic elections. Furthermore, blockchains have their own, unique security vulnerabilities.
Despite these concerns, West Virginia plans to move forward with the blockchain app. Kersey was pleased with the “really good response rate” of the pilot program during the 2018 midterm elections. “We are not saying mobile voting is the best solution to the problem, we are not saying that blockchain technology is the best solution to storage of security data,” says Kersey. “What we are saying though is that it’s better than what we have.”
Would you cast a vote for president via a mobile app?