If we had mobile voting this November…
Despite the heroic efforts of election officials across the country, we’ve seen some problems arise in the last week that impact the ability of voters to safely and securely cast their vote. Each of these problems would be mitigated if we had a mobile voting option.
Arson at ballot drop boxes
You’ve probably seen the news coverage showing the fire at a ballot drop box in Vancouver, Washington earlier this week that destroyed hundreds of ballots. Another drop box in Portland, Oregon was also set aflame, destroying three ballots. Election officials in both counties are attempting to alert voters who may have been affected, but it is likely that some voters will be effectively disenfranchised by this act of arson. And election officials around the country are now scrambling to protect their drop boxes, from hiring guards to staff them 24-7 to sending fire extinguishers with teams deployed to pick up ballots from the drop boxes.
Mobile voting would provide resiliency against these threats. First, mobile voting uses a digital drop box rather than a physical one, and therefore cannot be a target of arson or other physical attack. Second, mobile voting would give voters impacted by threats to other options an alternative or emergency method by which they can quickly cast a replacement ballot.
Of course, a digital ballot box is a potential target of a cyber attack. But cyber protections coupled with end-to-end verifiable voting that enables voters to verify their ballots remain secure at every step of the process would help protect against those risks. Learn more about end-to-end verifiable mobile voting here.
Violence and threats of violence at polling sites
A man physically attacked a poll worker at a voting site in Texas last week. Another man brandished a machete and threatened voters at a polling site in Florida this week. In 2022, armed vigilantes staked out ballot drop box locations in Arizona. Threats of violence – and even acts of violence – have one goal: to intimidate voters and keep them from voting.
Mobile voting enables voters to vote entirely in private, never needing to appear at a public location to either drop off a ballot or cast an in-person vote. As such, mobile voting would help eliminate the risks of physical intimidation and violence that are unfortunately becoming more common.
Long lines and disruptions at early voting locations
Early voting disruptions and long lines have been reported across the country in the last week, including in Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, and in Mingo County, WV, which had to shut down early voting due to technical problems. In Georgia, elderly voters and voters with disabilities have faced problems getting mail ballots.
Mobile voting would help ease long lines and postal delivery delays by giving voters another fully accessible option to cast their ballot using the device they carry in their pocket.
Threats to military service members’ and other overseas citizens’ ballots
A federal circuit court in Mississippi ruled last Friday that ballots cast by military service members and other overseas citizens should be tossed if they are not received by Election Day, overturning a state law that called for those ballots to be counted as long as they were postmarked by Election Day and received within five days. With the decision so late in the election cycle, many voters may be effectively disenfranchised, especially if they have already mailed their ballots back but have no ability to guarantee receipt by Tuesday. This ruling also has the potential to impact military service members and overseas voters in other states, particularly Pennsylvania, where a similar lawsuit has been filed.
Mobile voting would eliminate any risk that military and overseas voters’ ballots would be tossed for arriving too late. With mobile voting, voters don’t need to rely on postal delivery, which can often take weeks – and even months – for voters overseas. They can cast their ballot and know it was cast and received on time. Learn more about how mobile voting helps enfranchise military service members and other overseas voters.