FAQ

Absolutely! We believe mobile voting should be an additional option for voters, but mobile voting should not remove other options available, including mail-in ballots and in-person voting.

Yes. The mobile voting technology we have developed is as secure as other pieces of critical digital infrastructure and includes multiple security features to secure ballots and ensure voter anonymity. Multi-factor authentication ensures voter identity. End-to-end verifiability ensures that voters can check their ballot at any stage of the process. End-to-end encryption ensures votes can only be counted by election officials. Airgapping ensures that ballots are only decrypted and counted once they have been disconnected from the internet by election officials.

Yes. Since 2018, we’ve launched 21 secure mobile voting pilots across seven states. In every case, the National Cybersecurity Center audited the election, and in every case, the election came back clean. Mobile voting options have been used for nearly 20 years in other countries too, including in Australia, Canada, Estonia, France, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

No. Mobile voting does not introduce new risks to election systems. The mobile voting technology we have developed can be more secure than current election systems as it was designed to ensure that any cyber threat is immediately detectable. Mobile voting with end-to-end verifiability enhances the evidence available to voters and the public that the results of the election are correct, mitigating the risk that the results of the election can be easily called into question.

No. The key to building a secure voting system is to ensure that any successful attack is detectable so that no one can alter or affect the results of an election without detection. This is true for in-person voting, mail voting, and mobile voting. The mobile voting technology we have developed also gives voters tools to detect attacks. Voters can check their ballots before submitting to ensure the system recorded and encrypted their ballot correctly and no malicious software affected their vote. Similarly, once their ballot is submitted, they can use a tracking code to ensure it was received correctly. And the public will have visibility into all anonymized activity in the digital ballot box, providing anyone with evidence that the system is free from any potential threat.

The technology we have developed mitigates the risk of voter fraud by following the same process used for mail-in voting — and can be enhanced with additional authentication tools like biometrics. Voters sign affidavits and provide identification as required under local jurisdiction rules. Signatures are then verified by election officials, following the same process used for traditional mail-in voting. The technology we have developed also provides a multifactor authorization tool to authorize voters to submit a digital ballot. The system delivers a one-time access code to the email address in the voter's registration record, providing an added layer of protection against voter fraud or voter impersonation. Election jurisdictions can also choose to add enhanced features like biometric screening to the mobile voting process, requiring voters to match a face scan before accessing their ballot.

Over the coming years, our organization is working to pass laws in cities and states around the country, so more people across more jurisdictions will be able to vote from their phones. If you want mobile voting to be available to you, we hope you will join our movement and get involved.

Mobile Voting has been a charitable effort since its inception. It has never been, and will never be, a for-profit endeavor. The software that is being developed is non-proprietary and open source, and we will not charge election jurisdictions to access and implement it for voters.

Research consistently shows that when voting is made more convenient, turnout increases. For example, states that have adopted automatic vote-by-mail systems have seen at least a 2% increase in turnout in general elections, with even larger gains in primaries and local elections. The 2020 election, which had the highest voter turnout in a century, was largely driven by the expansion of accessible voting options. In fact, of the 10 states with the highest turnout increases, seven conducted their elections primarily by mail.

Mobile voting’s necessity is clear. Millions of Americans—military service members, overseas voters, individuals with disabilities, and those facing emergencies—need a secure, accessible voting option. Right now, turnout is lower than it should be because these voters do not have a way to participate. Making voting more accessible doesn’t just give people a voice for the first time —it strengthens democracy by ensuring every eligible voter has a fair opportunity to cast a ballot.

Mobile voting is designed to protect voter anonymity throughout the entire process, just like other forms of absentee voting.

Our technology does not store any voter data once a session ends—whether a ballot is submitted or the app is closed. No identifying information or ballot selections are retained outside an active voting session. When a voter submits their ballot, the marked ballot and affidavit are encrypted separately, similar to how a physical absentee ballot is placed inside a sealed envelope with a signed affidavit on the outside.

Election officials can only access the affidavit to verify the voter’s signature—just as they would with paper absentee ballots. The marked ballot remains encrypted and untouched during this verification process.

Before tabulation, accepted ballots are exported, moved offline (a process known as “airgapping”), and mixed to prevent any link between a voter and their ballot. Identifying information is permanently removed before the ballot is decrypted and printed, just as paper ballots are separated from their return envelopes before counting.

These layers of security ensure that mobile voting maintains the same level of voter privacy as traditional absentee voting while providing a more accessible and secure way to cast a ballot.

Existing options fail to provide full accessibility, privacy, and independence for all voters—especially those with disabilities, military voters, overseas citizens, and voters in emergencies.

Federal law mandates that all voting methods must allow voters to cast a ballot independently and privately. This includes in-person, early, and absentee voting. However, if any part of the process requires handling a paper ballot, full accessibility is not possible. Voters who are blind or print-disabled cannot mark, verify, or return a paper ballot without assistance.

Military and overseas voters face significant barriers when required to return a physical ballot. Many miss deadlines due to slow mail delivery, resulting in discarded votes. Voters on tribal lands often lack home mail service and live hundreds of miles from the nearest voting location. Paper-based absentee voting is not a reliable option for them.Hospitalized voters and those in emergencies lack access to necessary resources like printers and postal mail, making traditional absentee voting impossible.

Fully digital absentee voting is the only method that ensures true accessibility. Every other absentee option fails to provide the independence and privacy required by law.

No. In fact, open-source software makes mobile voting more secure, not less. Open-source systems allow independent experts, election officials, and the public to verify that the software is secure and functioning correctly—eliminating the need to blindly trust vendors or government certification agencies.

Transparency leads to better security. Publicly available source code allows independent experts to scrutinize it, increasing the likelihood of identifying and fixing flaws before they can be exploited.

Accountability improves code quality. Knowing that their work will be reviewed by the public, developers are incentivized to write cleaner, more secure code and document their approach clearly.