Category: Elections

Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) and Voatz

Posted on by itops

Buzz has been building in various corners of the United States around the concept of “Ranked Choice Voting”.

What is it? How does it work? And how is it different from the current system where you vote for your favorite candidate, hope they win, and prepare for your supposed “worst”?

At Voatz, we’re fascinated by varying methods for voting and mostly, working to ensure that the systems used to implement them are user-friendly, accessible and accurate when it comes to tabulating the mathematical calculations.

 

What is Ranked Choice Voting (RCV)?

To you, the voter, Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) is a relatively simple change to the way you vote. In the current system, you pick one candidate. With RCV, you rank candidates in the order you prefer them (first choice, second choice, third choice, and so on).


^how it would look to vote with RCV in ranking your first, second, and third choices

How does the math work?

After voters go to the polls, rank their choices and submit their ballots, here’s what happens:

  1. On Election Night, all ballots are counted only for the voters’ first choices.
  2. If a candidate receives an outright majority, they win, just like today.
  3. Unlike today, if no candidate receives a majority, the candidate with the fewest first choices is eliminated. If that was your first choice, your vote instantly counts for your next choice.
  4. This process repeats, with last-place candidates getting eliminated and voters who selected that candidate having their ballots counted for their second (or third, or fourth…) ranked choice, until one candidate reaches a majority and wins.
^sample RCV tabulation, with the first round of “instant runoff”, where in this case, the lowest-percentage candidate with 8% gets eliminated and those voters who selected that candidate have their votes allocated to their second choice candidates; in this case, this process continues until a winner reaches 50%

 

In short, your vote counts for your second choice only if your first choice has been eliminated (i.e. this is a case of “instant runoff”). Ultimately, if your first choice doesn’t win, rather than not having a voice thereafter, your ballot still gets counted for your second, third or fourth choices, and so on.

 

^sample of how RCV tabulation looks with four rounds of instant runoff

With multi-seat elections, ballots can grow lengthy, where you rank among many candidates for many seats (i.e. 10 open seats, 30 candidates). In the case of many candidates and many seats, you would rank among the many candidates for those many seats (i.e. pull your favorites from the 30 candidates and rank them among the 10 ranked seats).

^sample of a multi-choice ballot with 5 open seats and, in this case, 9 candidates, with ability to add multiple write-ins

The challenges to RCV include the need, often, for particular machines that can administer the vote and tabulate results. Some machines support only up to three rankings, which might not be enough for a crowded election, and most machines require rankings downloaded onto a memory card and transmitted to a central counting location, where files from each precinct must be aggregated before counting.

Lastly, for the voter, ballots can look like the one above, which can grow complex with more candidates and more open seats.

 

How does it work with Voatz?

Voatz has built-in capacity for RCV and instant tabulation, with emphasis on designing for maximized usability and seamless results.

Once a voter is verified to vote in the election, they access the ballot, rank their choices, and cast their ballot either on their smartphone or the Voatz tablet application.


^Voatz RCV interface 

Benefits to using Voatz for RCV include:

  • Voters use widely-available consumer hardware (smartphone and/or tablet)
  • Secure verification and ease-of-use for voters to vote with their smartphones
  • Built-in support for Ranked Choice Voting at no additional cost
  • Immediately intuitive drag-and-drop interface
  • Device submits the rankings directly to the location where they will be tabulated (no need to transmit)
  • Auditable results

Interested in using Voatz for RCV in your upcoming election? We’d love to hear from you.

 

 

Research:
Newsy
Ranked Choice Voting Minnesota
RCV Maine

Remote Mobile Voting: Answering Questions, Addressing Misconceptions

Posted on by itops

When West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner took office in 2017, he instructed his staff to explore ways to make voting more convenient for military personnel, their families and civilians stationed or working abroad (UOCAVA voters). As an officer in the army, Secretary Warner experienced firsthand how difficult it is for soldiers and civilians abroad to vote and return a ballot in time to be counted.

The statistics confirm the case: in 2016, the estimated voting participation rate for U.S. citizens living overseas was 6.9% compared to the 72% participation rate for citizens living in the United States.

In early 2018, Secretary Warner launched the nation’s first mobile voting pilot for two counties of West Virginia’s UOCAVA voters. Using their own Apple or Android smartphone, an authenticated, registered voter was able to receive, mark and submit a secret ballot from virtually anywhere in the world. Due to the success of this small pilot in the 2018 Primaries, Secretary Warner widened the pilot to 24 counties for the 2018 Midterm Elections in the fall.

Every ballot submitted was encrypted and stored on a geographically distributed and redundant network of blockchain servers managed by the two largest cloud infrastructure providers. At the close of polls, every ballot was printed in its respective county and tabulated on federally certified tabulation equipment. Post-election audits were performed on every ballot submitted via smartphones.

As a result of these successful pilots, Secretary Warner has emerged as a thought leader in America’s elections. In February, he spoke at an event hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center where he showed this video describing the State’s experience with remote mobile voting. In addition, a white paper has been published sharing the results of the 2018 Midterm Election pilot.

^ details from West Virginia’s mobile voting pilot (2018 Midterm Elections); learn more here

Several misconceptions have surfaced about the West Virginia pilots that we at Voatz would like to address, along with some other questions that warrant discussion.

Q: What is “blockchain voting”?

The phrase “blockchain voting” is a misnomer. In the West Virginia pilots, the term “blockchain” refers to a well-vetted method of storing voting transactions immutably across multiple, redundant, geographically distributed servers that makes it virtually impossible to hack. West Virginia utilized remote mobile voting, which leverages smartphone hardware, biometrics and cryptography in addition to blockchain technology. The combination of these technologies makes remote mobile voting a compelling solution. It is therefore important to distinguish from “blockchain voting”.

Q: What’s the difference between “mobile voting” and “blockchain voting”?

This is an important distinction. The term “blockchain voting” refers to a type of voting that uses a blockchain to store vote transactions. “Mobile voting” uses smartphone hardware, biometrics and cryptography to create a compelling solution to the challenges involved in a voting system: the ability to authenticate a voter’s identity, anonymize and secure that voter’s identity, allow a voter receive the correct ballot style, submit it, and verify their vote. In Voatz’s case, blockchain technology is used as a final step to immutably secure the ballots, and to provide the jurisdiction the ability for a robust post-election audit.

Q: What value does blockchain technology offer to elections?

The blockchain storage method performed two functions in the 2018 pilots. First, it secured the incoming votes from 144 voters in 31 countries from manipulation. Second, it functioned as the secure infrastructure that enabled a transparent post-election audit of a voter-verified ballot.

Q: Why is blockchain technology, which is used to secure bitcoin, relevant to elections?

The advantage of a “public blockchain”, which is the type used to distribute trust and secure bitcoin, is not relevant in elections because elections are jurisdiction-specific (e.g. cities, counties, countries), and require the ability to ensure that participation in the blockchain happens within the boundaries of that jurisdiction. As such, a “permissioned blockchain”, rather than a public blockchain, is ideal for West Virginia to provide 24 counties with a single infrastructure to store voting transactions, and to ensure that all validating nodes operate within U.S. boundaries. 

Q: Was the voter’s ballot private?

Yes. When the voter submits their ballot, an anonymous voter ID (AVID) is created in the smartphone application that is cryptographically attached to all voting transactions. Only the voter knows the AVID linked to their own identity.

Q: Were West Virginia’s county clerks able to perform post-election audits on ballots printed from the blockchain?

Yes, and according to Donald Kersey, West Virginia’s General Counsel, “the West Virginia county clerks were quite pleased with their ability to audit the ballots printed from the blockchain both before and after being tabulated.”

Every ballot was voter-verified. For a small number of voters who accidentally submitted their ballots before voting on every contest, each voter was able to spoil their ballot and cast another. Since blockchain storage is immutable, spoiling the first ballot does not remove it from the blockchain. Both blockchain-stored ballots had the same anonymous voter ID; only the one with the latest timestamp was printed and tabulated.

Progress in elections is slow, and many believe that is a good thing. New technology and new methods inevitably go through a series of trials, and it is through these trials that we learn what works well and where adjustments need to be made.

Voatz is in an exhilarating period of rapid learning and iteration. We look forward to serving election officials who seek to bring greater security and convenience to their voters, regardless of their circumstances.

Voatz Partners with the City of Denver on Mobile Voting Pilot for 2019 Municipal Elections

Posted on by itops

We are delighted to announce the launch of a new pilot program today with the City of Denver that will provide mobile voting secured by the blockchain to deployed military personnel and overseas United States citizens during the city’s municipal elections this spring.

We commend the City of Denver for seeking new, innovative technologies to improve our election infrastructure and provide secure, auditable, transparent voting options for voters. With this pilot program, Denver is leading the effort to make voting more convenient and accessible for deployed military personnel and overseas US citizens. The latest developments in smartphone hardware, encryption and blockchain technology make mobile voting a reality. This is a significant stepping stone that we hope many other states and cities will follow.

Eligible deployed military and overseas voters from Denver will have the option to vote with their smartphones from almost anywhere in the world. By using the Voatz application on their mobile phones, they will forgo the time-consuming process of mailing in an absentee ballot, will receive an auditable confirmation, and will be able to verify their vote within seconds of voting.

Last fall, we first piloted our technology at the federal level with 24 counties in West Virginia. During the pilot, 183 voters were eligible to vote, 160 downloaded the application, 147 successfully completed the one-time identity authentication process, and 144 submitted ballots that were counted and audited from 31 countries around the world. More than 200 West Virginians outside the eligibility criteria (military personnel and overseas US citizens from 24 counties) downloaded the app and authenticated themselves, only to find out they were not eligible.

These numbers indicate a 98% successful return rate on ballots received, and a 90% return rate on voters ballots requested. All votes produced: 1) a ballot receipt signed with an anonymous ID to verify the voter’s selections, and 2) an actual ballot with the same anonymous ID, formatted for printing and tabulation per standard procedures. These two verified trails enabled a thorough post-election audit by comparing the selections and the overall counts between the ballot receipts and the printed ballots.

With each of these pilots, we learn valuable feedback and continue to integrate and build with forward progress. Denver is learning from West Virginia, and the lessons we learn from this Denver pilot will inevitably produce valuable feedback that we will continue to welcome and integrate.

The Denver mobile voting option will be offered in addition to the current absentee options (mail, fax, and email). For uniformed military and overseas citizens, jurisdictions are required by law to send the ballot to voters 45 days prior to the election, allowing sufficient time for the ballots to be returned and counted. Ballots sent to participating voters using the Voatz application will be received within minutes, rather than days or sometimes weeks, and can be returned to the jurisdiction the instant the voter submits their ballot. The ballots that the jurisdiction receives are formatted, printed, and tabulated per standard procedure, and contain an anonymous ID that can be used for a rigorous post-election audit.

To use the Voatz platform, eligible voters must submit an absentee ballot request to their election office indicating a preference for mobile voting, and then complete an authentication process on the Voatz application. Once a voter is authenticated, they will be able to vote beginning March 23 until the polls close in May.

The process begins once a voter downloads the Voatz application to their mobile device and begins the one-time authentication process. An eligible, registered voter: 1) scans their state driver’s license or passport, 2) takes a live facial snapshot (a video “selfie”), which is matched against the photo ID and confirmed against the voter registration database, and 3) touches their phone’s Voatz biometric feature (i.e., fingerprint or facial recognition) to tie the voter’s device to the voter. Once the voter is authenticated, the ballot is received and the voter is ready to vote.

Mobile voting secured by blockchain solutions can help address some of the biggest challenges in election administration by adding security, transparency, and trust to the system. We believe that expanding secure voting options in the United States will increase participation in elections and strengthen our democracy.

The pilot is a collaboration between Voatz, the City and County of Denver, Tusk Philanthropies, and the National Cybersecurity Center. To learn more, read the press releases from Tusk Philanthropies and the Denver Elections Commission.

Virginia Should Help Overseas and Active-Duty Military Citizens Vote Electronically

Posted on by itops

While Virginians turned out in record numbers for the midterm election last year, more can be done to help the most disenfranchised voting demographic in the country: overseas citizens, military personnel and their family members stationed overseas.

Delegates Larry Rush (R) and R. Steven Landes (R), and Sens. Bill DeSteph (R) and Mason Montgomery (D), should be commended for recently introducing bipartisan legislation in the General Assembly that would create pilot programs or have the State Board of Elections study how electronic forms of voting can help Virginia’s deployed military members, overseas citizens and their families more easily exercise their right to vote.

Virginia has the third highest number of active duty U.S. military personnel of any state — many of whom serve overseas. Nationally, more than 3 million voters live overseas, and according to a 2018 study by the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) 93% of them were unable to vote in 2016 because their current voting options (postal mail, fax or email) were either unreliable, inaccessible or insecure. These infrastructural barriers are unacceptable, particularly for those who are serving our country.

Combined with ongoing election threats from foreign actors, shifting demographics, and advances in technology, the need to improve Virginia’s election infrastructure has never been greater. In an era when Americans share financial, medical, and other highly sensitive information electronically, these same advances in mobile technology, paired with biometrics and a blockchain-based infrastructure, create a powerful solution.

Last year, the West Virginia Secretary of State’s office successfully launched a pilot program that enabled overseas citizens to cast their ballot via a mobile application from anywhere in the world — a first in US election history.

Smartphone technology has the greatest potential to revolutionize the way we vote, from leveraging biometrics to the vast security infrastructure developed in support of its widespread distribution. Indeed, according to Pew Research, smartphone ownership lands at 94% among people aged 18-29, 89% for those aged 30-49, and 73% for those aged 50-64 in the United States. Virginia needs to leverage these latest developments in smartphone hardware, along with encryption and blockchain technology, in order to both secure a voter’s identity, as well as the vote.

By no means should we switch to a smartphone-only elections system, nor one without a paper option. There should always be optionality around voting methods, as long as those options are tested and enable a post-election audit with a voter-verified paper trail. Indeed, the legislation introduced advocates for pilots with overseas citizens that not only leverage these technologies, but also enable post-election audits at multiple levels throughout the process.

When new technology is moved into a new space, questions understandably arise, and these concerns should be welcomed and thoroughly discussed. Some critics argue that leveraging technology for elections is not secure. No solution — paper included — is 100% tamper-proof, however, every ballot submitted in the West Virginia pilot was encrypted and stored on a geographically distributed, redundant network of blockchain servers managed by the two largest providers of cloud infrastructure.

At the close of the polls, a paper ballot was printed for every mobile vote and tabulated using federally-certified equipment. Additionally, voters received a digital receipt to confirm that their vote was correctly tabulated, a benefit that voters do not receive under the current paper-based system.

Other concerns include voter fraud. Today, friends or family members can easily impersonate a registered voter in their household and submit their absentee ballot — though seemingly harmless, this practice is illegal. With mobile voting, voters take a picture of a valid government-issued ID and use the smartphone’s camera to take a “live selfie”, leveraging its biometric capabilities (fingerprint or facial recognition) to authenticate the voter, and reducing the likelihood of voter impersonation.

Virginia has an opportunity to lead the nation by building an elections infrastructure that is secure, increases voter turnout and civic engagement. If you have a family member who has been unable to vote because they lived overseas or were turned away at the polls, please call your local General Assembly members and encourage them to support HB2588, HJ670, and SJ291.

2,000+ Voters Use Voatz for the 2019 Michigan Democratic Party Convention in Detroit

Posted on by itops

On February 2, 2019, the Michigan Democratic Party used the Voatz platform for delegate credentialing and voting in Detroit, Michigan. In under an hour, more than 2,000 delegates cast their votes for three contests.

“Working with Voatz has streamlined our registration and voting processes,” the Director of Party Affairs said, “since we began with Voatz, we’ve dramatically reduced our wait times during credentialing and our members report higher satisfaction with the way ballots are cast.”

  

Elections & Blockchains: Can Technology Spark Democracy?

Posted on by itops

In November 2018, our Director of Product, Hilary Braseth, delivered a talk for the Women in Blockchain group in Boston, Massachusetts.

The talk, “Elections & Blockchains: Can Technology Spark Democracy?”, explored the history and evolution of voter technology across the U.S. landscape, the four major challenges to a voting system, and a blockchain solution.

The talk sparked a lively discussion along with great interest to learn more about our systems of voting and the applicability of blockchain.

West Virginia Announces Successful Completion of the First Mobile Voting Pilot in a U.S. General Midterm Election

Posted on by itops

Charleston, W.Va. — Secretary of State Mac Warner is very pleased with the completion of the General Election pilot project that allowed deployed members of the military and overseas citizens to participate in our democracy by using a mobile voting application to cast ballots secured by blockchain technology.

Warner is a 23-year veteran of the United States Army. While deployed in 2012 and 2014, Warner was not able to vote back home in West Virginia because reliable postal service was unavailable. Until now, absentee voters living out of the country have relied on paper ballot absentees or inconvenient electronic systems that require a printer, scanner or fax machine. Those processes are very difficult and nearly impossible for soldiers to take advantage of while stationed in remote areas of the world.

According to a 2018 report by the Federal Voting Assistance Program, only 6.9 percent of eligible soldiers and overseas citizens cast a ballot in the 2016 Presidential General Election. With his personal experience in mind and stats that proved the problem is vast, one of Secretary Warner’s first challenges to his Elections Division was to eliminate the hurdles in overseas voting that contributed to the very low voter participation rate for our deployed military and overseas citizens.

Prior to the May 2018 Primary Election, the State of West Virginia partnered with Tusk Montgomery Ventures (TMV) and engaged a technology developer from Boston, Massachusetts to pilot their revolutionary mobile voting application. The company, Voatz Inc., created a system that utilizes biometric identity verification and blockchain technology to offer voters a secure option to vote through their mobile application.

………

“For the first time in our nation’s history, military and overseas citizens were able to cast ballots in a federal election using a mobile device. If this technology were not available, many of those soldiers and citizens would not have had the opportunity to participate in our democracy. This pilot will provide actual voting transactions for the independent auditors to review and analyze the first deployment of blockchain technology in an American election,” Warner said.

Read The Full Announcement Here

Several news publications also covered the pilot completion and you can access some of them via the links below:

WaPo

StateScoop

Excited to Share Our Work with Udacity’s “Built on Blockchain” Series

Posted on by itops

This September, we were honored to be featured in a six-part series issued by Udacity, an online platform that offers courses to build professional skills ranging from cybersecurity to design.

“Built on Blockchain” is a six-part “original documentary series that aims to demystify blockchain,” featuring how activists and entrepreneurs are building solutions that impact politics, society, and daily life.

We encourage you to take a peek — each episode is less than ten minutes — and in particular, at Episode 2, “One Block, One Vote”, where Voatz CEO Nimit shares why he’s moved to do this work, alongside other partners and companies innovating in the democracy and blockchain space.

History-Making Mobile Voting Pilot for Military, Overseas Citizens Expands to 24 West Virginia Counties for General Election

Posted on by itops

WV Mobile Voting Pilot

We are delighted and honored to be a small part of this effort led by the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office to make voting easier and safer for our deployed military service members, their families and U.S. citizens living overseas.

Official Announcement

Press Coverage