We already use the above listed technologies (as well as others) to daily transact $300 billion in U.S. markets. This includes online shopping transactions, stock market transactions (many of which are automated by trading algorithms), supply chain purchases by corporations, etc. Throw U.S. government transactions in there, including classified programs by various intelligence agencies that are not public record, and I’d wager that daily transaction number would at least double.
Most of us use credit and debit cards daily. We access our bank accounts via apps on our smartphones. We automate our bill payments using online services. We pay our taxes online. We access our health records online and automate prescription refills.
We do all of this because it is convenient and gives us more time to chainsmoke episodes of our favorite shows on Netflix, which reminds me that we access all of our entertainment content online too.
In short, we’ve completely digitized our lives, outsourcing much of it to online services and connected apps on our smartphones. We’ve entrusted our personal finances and the entire global economy to these digital systems.
But when it comes to voting, most of us will automatically default to a position of skepticism. This includes yours truly. In 2004, I wrote a column in this same space about “black box voting” or e-voting as it is commonly referred to today.
“In its current form,” I wrote, “e-voting threatens to jeopardize our Constitutional rights by placing control of the voting system in the hands of the few. In its current form, e-voting is a flawed system ripe with opportunity for inaccurate vote tallying that would be unauditable and therefore unchallengeable.”
We have all the necessary technologies to build a secure, nation-wide e-voting system. What we do not have is the political will and leadership to make it a reality.
I stand by that statement. But I also believe that we could develop a secure, nation-wide e-voting system that would ensure rather than jeopardize our Constitutional rights.
What I propose is development of an e-voting system using the same technologies we have already implemented for secure online transactions, global commerce and finance. Are these impervious to hacking and compromise? Nope. No digital system is.
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), credit card fraud has increased 30 percent since 2021 with consumers having lost a reported $8.8 billion in scams in 2022. One of the primary difficulties with preventing credit card fraud is that credit card processing is a fragmented global system with no unifying standards.
We could have a secure, nationwide e-voting infrastructure built with data encryption, 2-factor/biometric authentication, smart phones, smart cards, and cloud computing. Additionally, we could implement blockchain to create a distributed, unalterable record of voting “transactions” (i.e., what candidate or ballot measure a user voted for).
Every U.S. citizen who registered to vote would be issued a national voting smart card that would be paired to a PIN that they set when they registered. This card would work similar to an ATM card. At the voting center, a registered voter would simply insert their card into a secure voting machine, enter their pin, then follow the on-screen instructions to cast their votes.
Additionally, secure voting apps developed for standard smartphone platforms could be used to vote using a combination of PIN and biometric fingerprint scanning. The app would be paired with the voter registration card to mitigate fraud. Essentially, it would be like Apple Pay for voting.
In order for the system to be functional and secure, it would need to be a unified system with unifying standards developed by a consortium of government and non-government organizations. It would also have to be transparent and auditable by third parties.
We have all the necessary technologies to build a secure, nation-wide e-voting system. What we do not have is the political will and leadership to make it a reality. Our politicians seem content to keep the system we currently have with all of its flaws and potential for corruption.
Our current system will remain broken to the degree we accept it being broken.
