Signal # 3: Can we entrust the future of our democracy to blockchain enabled mobile voting?

The last US Presidential elections surfaced the vulnerabilities of our voting system as one of the pillars of our democracy. Given current technological advances and access to the voting booth, we need a more equitable way for people to vote that is secure, accessible, and accurate.

Slate reported for the upcoming midterm elections, West Virginia is offering residents from 24 counties who are living overseas to cast their ballots using their smartphone. Voatz, a startup, developed a mobile app backed by blockchain encryption technology allowing citizens to vote remotely. The blue sky is that if we can remove barriers to voting, more people can vote, then our democracy would work better. Blockchain technology commonly used to facilitate trading cryptocurrencies where a network of computers work together to maintain, verify, and encrypt records on a ledger.

While this technology holds promise, there are concerns regarding security, considering the potential for malware on smartphones which may alter the vote before it reaches the blockchain. Voatz claims that it has implemented measures to detect malware and phones with the latest security updates. Even if this was true, citizens should still understand the potential vulnerabilities of casting a ballot via a mobile app.