Internet Voting Archives - Follow My Vote

Paper Ballots and Current Voting Systems are not Secure nor Feasible

Adam Ernest — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 18:26:44 +0000

As I continued to scan the article I thought to myself, “Our current voting system is broken.”Stuck between paper ballots and other outdated voting systems America’s election infrastructure is lagging behind. Outdated voting machines, complex state laws that have made ID verification difficult, and accusations of voter fraud are not unique to the California primary. With Los Angeles’ County having to manage 4,700 polling locations for almost five million people, there’s bound to be a couple of hiccups. However, the amount of accusations of voter fraud and voter suppression is unusual. Check out our article on the California Primary if you’re curious about these accusations.

Can’t go back to the past – paper ballots

In David Dill’s article in the Stanford news, he believes that paper ballots is the gold standard we should stick to. But in reality, it’s not like we can go back to paper votes either, the amount of work of tabulating and counting the votes will only increase as the United States’ population increases. The commissioner of the Virginia Department of Elections during a panel about America’s voting technology crisis states: (46:30 in the video below)

Paper ballots also aren’t cheap. We have localities … Fairfax County, for example, they have scanning equipment and the ballots that they got printed. We are talking close to $100,000 just for ballot printing (…) It’s not realistic to expect hand counting after the election, it’s just an incredible task the amount of people and resources required. As Doug mentioned, it also isn’t just as accurate.

David Dill might be a successful computer scientist, but he would probably be a starving economist. The Country just can’t afford to spend $100,000 per county on 3,143 counties in the United States, that’s over 300 billion dollars per election.

The current systems just aren’t working

Dill also talked about how the voting systems can easily be hacked, and there is truth to the statement. The guardian reported in April 2015 that “Touchscreen voting machines used in numerous elections between 2002 and 2014 used “abcde” and “admin” as passwords and could easily have been hacked from the parking lot outside the polling place, according to a state report.” A computer scientist at tech research group SRI International stated that “The AVS WinVote machines, used in three presidential elections in Virginia, ‘would get an F-minus‘ in security.” With both our current system and past system realistically unusable, what do we do you might ask.

The Solution

The solution to this problem is end-to-end verifiable online voting. Follow My Vote hopes to be the lead innovator in this new technology. Through cryptographically secure voting, every machine has to be registered to a user who has been verified through a picture and government ID card along with an ID Key. Each user then has the ability to vote only once, but can change their vote until the poll closes. The blockchain technology allows an individual to audit their vote or the entire election if they wanted to.

About the author: David Brock is a Marketing Intern of Follow My Vote.

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Questionable Voting Practices in the Greek Referendum? You Decide.

jkkersey — Wed, 08 Jul 2015 21:25:02 +0000

Whether you’re a devotee of international news or just a casual observer, most would agree that negotiations regarding a Greek bailout package from Eurozone lenders have clogged the headlines for too long. Over the course of months we have seen feisty Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras go round after round with indomitable German Chancellor Angela Merkel; who, as head of Europe’s most robust economy, wields a great deal of power in determining the exact terms of Greece’s bailout package. The situation is exceedingly sticky because if a deal cannot be struck, Greece may decide to exit the EU (“Grexit”), leaving the rest of Europe with a huge debt and possibly setting a dangerous example for other debt-laden Eurozone members.

Recently, Tsipras decided to put the power directly in the hands of the people via a national Greek referendum. Eurozone leaders watched impassively as 60% of Greeks voted against accepting the bailout proposal, and instead to send the negotiators back to the drawing board. While the outcome of their vote isn’t surprising, how they voted is.

The video shows a group of what are presumed to be poll officials first dumping a box of votes onto a pair of side-by-side tables, and then gathering the votes by hand into ambiguous piles. This methodology is troubling, as the economic crisis has polarized the Greek people and there are embittered advocates in both the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ camps. Between the harsh austerity measures which Greeks have labored under for years, and Tsipras’ highly influential campaign for a ‘no’ vote in the Greek referendum, it is not unthinkable that a well-meaning poll worker abused his or her position to unduly influence the vote. So while investors around the world waited nervously for the outcome of the referendum, 3,558,450 votes were cast and shoddily hand-counted.

This is just one of many situations in which online voting software, like Follow My Vote’s, would have delivered a faster, more trustworthy, and transparent election result and expedited a negotiation process which has been a cause of much anxiety for global investors and spiked volatility in European markets. Put simply, the fact that such archaic voting methods were used in a decision as important as the Greek referendum underscores the need for more modern voting practices; especially in a globalized world where the decisions of a handful of Greeks affects not only the Greek economy but that of the entire world.

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What Will the Future of Voting Look Like?

Adam Ernest — Wed, 24 Jun 2015 12:19:07 +0000

This post from a talk show called The Take Away speaks with some highly educated people in the industry where they discuss on their podcast the importance of verified voting when dealing in the digital realm. The main topic of conversation lands on the audit-ability of the current system and what might be in development (Follow My Vote) to make digital voting more secure. It is important that we work together to allow our voters to have some form of verification for their vote confirming that their vote was registered correctly. All in all a great listen for anyone looking of more information on where we are, and where we may end up, in respect to online voting.

Yesterday, California Representative Eric Swalwell discussed his bill that would give Congress the power to connect remotely—whether members are casting votes or attending committee meetings.

Congressman Swalwell’s argument is a simple one: Technology can and should simplify the electoral process in this country. When it comes to voting in America, many of you agree that the system should utilize technology and become more accessible, but for some the thought is a scary one.

What will the future of voting in America look like? Weighing in is Ronald Rivest, a professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT and a faculty member of the Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project.

Listen to the Podcast Here: http://www.thetakeaway.org/story/what-will-future-voting-america-look/.

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Hillary Aims to Tear Down ID Laws to Increase Voter Turnout

Adam Ernest — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 22:58:21 +0000

In an attempt to pick up votes needed for the upcoming 2016 election, Hillary Clinton is attempting to tear down ID laws to increase voter turnout. Hillary’s campaign has taken a swing into the realm of claims of voter suppression, especially in States that are overhauling their voter laws to better protect against the levels of voter fraud that were seen during the 2008 election.

Follow My Vote is happy to see the idea of voter suppression back in the news, as it offers a great opportunity to educate law makers of ground breaking technology available that could make voter suppression a non-issue. We know that there are much better and technological ways to increase voter turnout without sacrificing the integrity of the entire system.

Hillary Clinton knows she won’t be able to count on the more than 60 million votes that Barack Obama secured to win the White House in both 2008 and 2012. Instead of wallowing in self pity, Clinton’s campaign has come up with a game plan to make sure that the former Secretary of State’s path to the coronation remains unblemished: expanding the electorate. On May 29, Marc Elias, the lead lawyer for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, was among those who filed a lawsuit in Wisconsin challenging the state’s voter-ID law. The suit claims that the law, passed under Clinton’s likely 2016 rival Governor Scott Walker, suppresses voting rights:

This lawsuit concerns the most fundamental of rights guaranteed citizens in our representative democracy — the right to vote. That right has been under attack in Wisconsin since Republicans gained control of the governor’s office and both houses of the State Legislature in the 2010 election. Indeed, since 2011, the State of Wisconsin has twice reduced in-person absentee (“early”) voting, introduced restrictions on voter registration, changed its residency requirements, enacted a law that encourages invasive poll monitoring, eliminated straight-ticket voting, eliminated for most (but not all) citizens the option to obtain an absentee ballot by fax or email, and imposed a voter identification (“voter ID”) requirement.

Following widespread voter-registration fraud in the 2008 presidential election, many states led by Republican governors quickly moved to pass voter-ID laws in an attempt to ensure the integrity of future elections. The accusations of rampant fraud surrounding the Association for Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) — a group to which the Clinton Family Foundation donated $10,000 — showcased the immense pressure the organization had placed on low-level employees to meet their voter-registration quotas. After several subsequent scandals, Congress eliminated federal funding for ACORN, and the group was forced to disband and file for bankruptcy.

We would like to remind our readers that Follow My Vote is non-partisan. We do not endorse any party regardless of their intentions to increase voter turnout. However, Follow My Vote will always shine light on those trying to increase voter turnout.

2020 Might be a Realistic Goal for Online Voting

Adam Ernest — Wed, 06 May 2015 19:58:57 +0000

As we well know technology moves at a pace determined by those that push the envelope and stive to make changes to better humanity. With technology moving at such a rapid pace today what would be a realistic time frame to start to see changes in the way we vote? This article takes a look at some of the reasons why we are not currently utilizing online voting here in the United States and what we may be able to do to fix it. As long as we continue to push boundaries in technology and government we are sure to see positive movement toward our envisioned digital democracy.

When you go to the polling station on 7 May, take a moment to step back, look at your surroundings – the wooden floors of a village hall, the rusty hinges of the partition installed to stop anyone seeing your ballot paper, the very fact you queued for your entire lunch hour to drop a piece of paper into a box – and ask yourself why you can’t vote online.

We can bank, shop, communicate, and order a new passport or driving license online, so why can’t we use the internet to vote? The UK has run trials in the past. Liverpool and Sheffield city councils are among five to have run pilot online voting schemes in 2002, 2003 and 2007. Online turnout ranged from 11% to over 26% and afterwards the Electoral Commission said the online system “proved popular in improving access to voting” and that the technology had “worked well”.

The Labour Party will trial online voting for the 2020 election if Ed Miliband is given the keys to Number 10, while Commons Speaker John Bercow recently said people should have the option to vote online by the same year.

How BlockChain Technology will Change the World

Adam Ernest — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 12:15:51 +0000

We have long known the power that blockchain technology offered the world in many different applications and industries. With online voting still needing a bit of a push in the securities realm to make large players more comfortable with the technology this article takes a look at some of the other industries that are seeing immediate dramatic improvements across the board by utilizing blockchain technology in securities applications and a couple others that you may not have thought of!

While Bitcoin has received the lion’s share of attention since its conception, recently the Blockchain — the distributed public database used to record Bitcoin transactions — has just begun entering the spotlight for enabling some important capabilities outside of Bitcoin.

“It’s my belief that Blockchain technology will be as important to the world as Gutenburg’s printing press,” Nic Cary, cofounder of Blockchain.info, told me recently. “For the first time in the history of the world we can reimagine how the world transacts without relying on an intermediary.”

One way the Blockchain might change the world is through Distributed Cloud Storage.

Distributed Cloud Storage

The Blockchain has already been manipulated to store information in unscaleable ways. A niche storage trick is sending small amounts of Bitcoin to addresses that represent information when converted into a Unicode format. For example, the above image of Nelson Mandela is recorded in this transaction.

Besides being a hobby for techies, Blockchain data storage could be disruptive. Current cloud storage services are centralized — thus users must place trust in a single storage provider. With the Blockchain, this can become decentralized. For instance, Storj is beta-testing cloud storage using a Blockchain-powered network to improve security and decrease dependency. Additionally users can rent out their excess storage capacity, Airbnb-style, creating new marketplaces.

Negative Comments Surrounding Florida’s Online Voter Registration Stir Officials

Adam Ernest — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 12:39:45 +0000

It would seem that even after an understood push back of implementation date and all of the physical proof surrounding the safety and viability of Florida’s online voter registration there still seems to be educated people out there that do not truly understand the nature of the work that goes into securing any kind of transaction on the internet.

Recently there were comments made by Gov. Rick Scott and his administration in an attempt to stymie what will surely be a huge step forward for the digital democracy. We will continue to watch Florida closely!

The Scott administration’s behind-the-scenes opposition has opened a new rift between Scott’s office and county supervisors and stirred new speculation that Scott may not want to take steps that would expand the pool of voters as he explores a possible U.S. Senate bid in 2018.

Florida would become the 25th state with an online voter registration program under a bill (SB 228) sponsored by Sen. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth. The idea has broad bipartisan support as well as the backing of AARP, the League of Women Voters and Disability Rights of Florida, and it unanimously passed a Senate committee Thursday.

But a staff report of the bill by Scott’s Division of Elections refers to the bill as a “mandate (that) presents potential risks and challenges” at a time when the state’s voter registration and driver license databases are both undergoing extensive changes. Florida relies on driver license information to verify voters’ identities.

The report says: “Malicious cyber-attacks and non-malicious malfunctions could potentially wreak havoc on an online voter registration system” and online registrations “could potentially increase the chances of votes being cast by someone other than the people actually registered to vote.”

Read Full Article Here.

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Student Association Senate Passes Bill to Allow Students to Vote Online

Adam Ernest — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 12:00:51 +0000

A ninety minute debate ended in success for online voting platforms across the globe! Its a great start! This bill allows students to vote online for the SA executive election. One of the main objections and concerns of the council was the safety and integrity of the website that would be hosting these elections. David White, SA election commissioner commented that he will extensively test the site for integrity to maintain the highest level of security during a vote. This will be a great arena to test the viability and address any issues that may be found in what will be a great real world case study here in America.

After a nearly 90-minute debate on the effectiveness of online voting, the Student Association Senate passed a bill, 20-12, that would allow students to vote online for the SA executive election.

Polling stations in DuSable Hall, the Holmes Student Center, Recreation Center, Founders Memorial Library and Barsema Hall will now have laptops where students can vote. Aside from the polling stations, students will be able to vote on their phones and electronic devices through the Huskie Link website, niu.collegiatelink.net, a social networking site for student organizations.

Senator Gregory Lezon, member of the SA board of elections, said he was concerned about the use of Huskie Link for voting as there could be bugs with the system. David White, SA election commissioner and the senator who proposed online voting, said he would run tests to ensure the website would work fine.

Senator Jordan Clayton-Taylor expressed concern with moving toward electronics as “someone could use another person’s [OneCard] to vote.”

White said the system for online voting would work the same way as the paper ballot voting as a OneCard is required to be swiped to vote and a person can only vote once.

Source: northernstar.info

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Florida May be the 25th State to Allow Online Voter Registration

Adam Ernest — Fri, 13 Mar 2015 12:00:26 +0000

You have heard the phrase “You got to lean how to crawl before you can run” well America is on its way to learning how to crawl when it comes to integrating the internet into our voting society. Florida may be the 25ht State to allow voters to register to vote utilizing online portals and programs. It is a general consensus here with the American Public that is has taken far to long to implement technology into our voting. With Republicans beginning to come around to the idea, we are looking at at least after the 2016 election before the online registration option is federally accepted.

Under Florida law, a person who wants to vote must mail or deliver a voter registration form to an elections office, a decades-old system that elections supervisors say is cumbersome and expensive.

A bill by Rep. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, would create an online voter registration system in 2018, after the next presidential election. Her bill (HB 1161) has the best chance of passage, because Republicans control both houses of the Legislature.

“Look how many times government has put technology in place and screwed it up.” Passidomo said. “I want to make sure it’s working. … If it could be done sooner, that would be great. There’s no intent to just drag it out.”

The League of Women Voters of Florida says it should be done sooner, and that people already have waited far too long for a basic convenience that’s now a matter of routine in nearly half of the country.

“It’s a mystery to us, and it should be of great concern to voters,” League President Deirdre Macnab said. “This is not rocket science. It’s a win-win. There’s no reason for delay.”

League members are expected to push for the quicker timetable this week when they hold their annual two-day lobbying blitz at the Capitol, including a gala at the historic Old Capitol with Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, and other legislative leaders.

The Pros and Cons of Online Voting

Adam Ernest — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 12:30:03 +0000

We like to keep an open mind about the ground breaking technology we are leveraging to bring online voting to millions across the country. With a technology so new there are bound to be some challenges to overcome. This article takes a non-biased look at the possibility of a true digital democracy and outlines some very serious pros and cons of online voting that could either hold back or launch us forward into a new age. Follow My Vote and our partners are working diligently each day to address some of the major challenges we face on this road to success and an open source voting system that is secure and audit-able by the masses.

Political elections in the United States require voters to travel to the polls in person or to mail in absentee ballots. That has resulted in elections, such as that in 2004, receiving substantially fewer votes than TV reality shows that allow online voting. While the availability of online voting in political elections may change in the future, given the fast pace with which technology develops, right now the issue is still in debate.

Pro: Convenience

Perhaps the biggest pro of online voting is that it has the potential to make voting easier and more convenient. For those who have access to computers and the Internet, online voting would take little more effort than a few clicks. This way of voting also eliminates the need for transportation, reduces or eliminates missed time at work or school, and decreases the impact of barriers such as lack of child care, illness, confusion about polling locations and long lines. It would make voting easier and more private for those with disabilities, anxiety issues or serious medical conditions.

Con: Election Tampering

Where there is Internet, there are viruses. The Internet is an almost incomprehensibly large network of computers, and monitoring those computers for security threats is a hefty and expensive task that cannot ever ensure 100 percent safety. That’s fine when you’re using your computer to update your blog, but when you’re determining the future of a nation, even the smallest security flaw can can have dire consequences. In addition, savvy hackers could potentially find ways to rig the outcome of the elections, such as tampering with the way votes are submitted and counted or even casting votes for people who did not actually intend to vote. What’s more, without monitored polling locations, there’s no way to ensure that voters were not coerced into voting a certain way. It can also be difficult to prove the identity of the person casting the online vote.

The True Pros and Cons of Online Voting

Many people are actually unaware of the technology that could eliminate all of the cons associated with internet voting. The pros and cons of internet voting become completely different when we use blockchain technology.

The article we looked at listed internet voting cons as follows: election tampering, decreased efficiency and accuracy, and disenfranchisement.

Through the use of blockchain technology, these cons of online voting become solved problems.

Let us know in the comment section what you think the pros and cons of online voting are and see our online voting FAQs for additional questions.

Source : ehow.com.

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