How Mobile Voting Works
Mobile voting works like a digital version of paper absentee voting.
Instead of receiving a physical ballot by mail, eligible voters can simply access their ballot through a secure app on their smartphone or tablet.
End-to-End Encryption
Every vote cast is end-to-end encrypted, which ensures ballot privacy and that votes can only be counted by election officials.
End-to-End Verifiable
Throughout the entire mobile voting process, voters can verify that their ballot has been accurately cast and then counted.
Transparent and Auditable
Our mobile voting technology is open source so that anyone - election officials, cybersecurity experts, citizens – can verify that the software is secure and functioning correctly—eliminating the need to blindly trust vendors or government certification agencies.
Multi-Factor and Biometric Authentication
Just like confirming identity when logging onto email or other sensitive websites, voters must complete multi-factor authentication to confirm they are who they say they are before casting a ballot. Election jurisdictions can also require that voters confirm their identity through biometric facial recognition on their phone.
Airgapping and Paper Counting
Every digital vote is taken offline (airgapped) by election officials to ensure it cannot be compromised by external actors over the internet while it is counted. The digital ballot is then physically printed and counted alongside and just like mail-in and physical absentee ballots.
Here’s How The Mobile Voting Technology We Have Developed Works,
Step by Step
First, voters download mobile voting app from their local board of elections.
Access
Voters then confirm their identity through multi-factor authentication. Election jurisdictions can also implement additional biometric layers for identity authentication including facial recognition.
Authenticate
Voters fill out ballot. Voters with disabilities are able to use their own assistive technologies built into their devices to read and mark their ballots.
Vote
Before submitting, voters can take an optional step to verify their ballot is recorded and encrypted correctly by reviewing their ballot on the verification website on a separate device. In doing so, voters have extra assurance that the election is secure and their device has not been compromised.
Verify
After verifying their ballot, voters can submit.
Submit
After submitting, voters also receive a tracking code to follow their ballot’s progress through the process.
Track
With digital ballot return, the ballot packet is encrypted and transmitted to a digital ballot box. The ballot is then airgapped, meaning it will not be decrypted and counted by election officials until it is taken offline from the internet.
Encrypt
Once taken offline, ballots are decrypted and a paper copy is printed so the ballot is mixed in and counted alongside traditional mail-in ballots.
Tabulate