Sample OpEd

Thank you for your willingness to write a OpEd to help spread the word in your community about the advantages of mobile voting for voters in your state. By expressing your position to decision-makers, as well as the voters in your area, you help ensure that more people understand that with mobile voting, we can securely expand participation by ensuring everyone has their say in our elections.

Please reach out to The Mobile Voting Team at bryce@mobilevoting.org if you have any questions or would like assistance in putting together your OpEd. We are excited to help you share your voice on this critical issue for our democracy.

Background:

An op-ed (short for "opposite the editorial page") is a short opinion piece, typically 600–900 words, written by an individual or group to express a clear, personal viewpoint on a public interest topic like mobile voting. Usually written by guest writers, experts, or community members like you, rather than staff editors, these articles aim to inform, persuade, or provoke, often ending with a call to action.

Sample:

In a country that prides itself on democratic participation, voting remains far more difficult than it should be. For millions of Americans, casting a ballot is not simply a matter of showing up—it’s a logistical challenge shaped by distance, disability, work schedules, and systemic barriers. If we are serious about strengthening our democracy, we must modernize how we vote. Mobile voting offers a promising path forward.

Consider the reality many voters face. Rural residents may need to travel long distances to reach a polling place. Seniors and people with disabilities often encounter physical barriers or must rely on others, sacrificing the privacy of their ballot. Military and overseas voters frequently struggle to receive and return ballots on time. Even for those without these challenges, busy schedules and unexpected life events can make voting difficult on a single designated day.

While mail-in voting expanded access in recent years, it is not a perfect solution. Ballots can be delayed, misplaced, or mishandled, and concerns—whether widespread or not—can erode public confidence. At its core, the issue is clear: our voting system does not yet meet people where they are.

But nearly every American carries a powerful tool in their pocket. We bank, communicate, and manage our healthcare on smartphones. There is no reason voting should remain an outlier.

Mobile voting would allow eligible voters to cast their ballots securely from their phones, dramatically reducing barriers to participation. And the impact is not hypothetical. In Denver, a pilot program for military and overseas voters doubled turnout among participants. In Seattle-area elections, turnout tripled when mobile voting was introduced, with the vast majority of voters choosing the electronic option over traditional methods. These results point to a simple truth: when voting is easier, more people do it.

Critics often raise concerns about security—and they should. Election integrity is essential. But modern mobile voting systems are designed with multiple layers of protection. Voters must verify their identity through multi-factor authentication, similar to the safeguards used in banking. Ballots are encrypted end-to-end, ensuring privacy during transmission. Once received, they are decrypted on offline, “air-gapped” systems, then printed and mixed with other ballots to preserve anonymity.

Perhaps most importantly, mobile voting introduces a level of transparency that traditional systems often lack. Voters can track their ballot through every stage of the process, confirming that it was received and counted accurately. Open-source software allows independent experts to audit the system, building trust through verification rather than blind faith.

Mobile voting is not a replacement for in-person or mail voting—it is an additional option. Expanding choices makes our system more resilient and inclusive. Different voters have different needs, and a one-size-fits-all approach no longer works in a diverse, modern society.

Public support for mobile voting is already strong, particularly among younger voters and communities that have historically faced barriers to participation. That matters, because a democracy functions best when it reflects the voices of all its people—not just those who can most easily access the ballot box.

At a time when trust in institutions is fragile, we should be investing in solutions that increase participation, transparency, and confidence. Mobile voting has the potential to do all three.

The question is not whether we can modernize our elections. It is whether we have the will to do so.

Lawmakers should act now to pass legislation that allows mobile voting to be tested, expanded, and implemented responsibly. The future of democracy should be more accessible, not less. And in a digital age, that future should be within reach—literally in the palm of our hands.

[YOUR NAME]
[CITY], [STATE]