Below is a letter from Voatz CEO to the editor of The Economist in response to last month’s article, “Why voting online is not the way to hold an election in a pandemic“. Dear Editor of The Economist, Allow me to begin by saying that I hold immense respect for The Economist, its well-researched content, and data-driven conclusions. I was surprised, however, to see an almost categorical dismissal of online voting in your article last month, “Why voting online is not the way to hold an election in a pandemic”. Whether we like it or not, technology has permeated our lives in undeniable ways, including our vote by mail system […]

Voatz successfully completes another significant mobile voting exercise, confirming that mobile can be a viable voting option in these unprecedented times. BOSTON, May 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Voatz, the Boston-based mobile voting platform, today announced the successful completion of the virtual Arizona State Republican Party Convention, the first of its kind to also incorporate visual live streaming and telephonic townhall components. This continues the momentum of mobile voting as an alternative, secure way to exercise the democratic right to vote.  In order to ensure a smooth rollout of the platform, Voatz worked closely with Republican Party of Arizona officials to train voters and test the platform ahead of the May 9 convention.  More than 1,100 delegates voted using […]

Last week, nearly 7,000 votes were submitted using the Voatz mobile voting platform in the Utah GOP’s virtual convention. This constituted a 93% turnout for the convention. All submitted ballots undergo a public citizen’s post-election audit, in which anyone is able to participate as an auditor, hosted by the National Cybersecurity Center. We wanted to share interesting data from this election. In addition to voting statistics, after voting, several Utah GOP voters voluntarily responded to a survey regarding their experience with mobile voting. Highlights: 90% reported being “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the convention 87% reported being more likely to serve as a delegate if future conventions are online 89% […]

Voatz is honored to sit on the new advisory board for the National Cybersecurity Center’s (NCC) Secure the Vote initiative. Secure the Vote seeks to advance the development of standards and best practices in mobile voting, and to scale efforts in support of a culture of security in small and rural jurisdictions. The advisory board, made up of experts in cybersecurity and elections, will provide diverse perspectives on election security and growth at the intersection of technology and voting. We applaud the NCC for forming this initiative and look forward to contributing to well-informed discussions on the opportunities with mobile voting technology that ensure greater safety and transparency.

This past weekend, Voatz was a proud sponsor of Hack(H)er413, the first all-women and non-binary students’ hackathon in Western Massachusetts. Over the course of 24 hours, participants were encouraged to learn and develop new technical skills, network, and innovate with passion. The hackathon was organized entirely by students and aimed to increase diversity and inclusion in the technology industry. During our time there, we held a workshop introducing participants to ethical hacking, mobile code security testing, and invited students to sign up for the Voatz bug bounty program with an invitation to test the latest versions of the Voatz mobile voting platform. We were impressed by the students’ interest, the thoughtful questions, […]

“The dream of online voting is as old as the Internet itself. The road to achieve that goal has been long, marked by high-profile setbacks and less-noticed but still important progress…” Read more HERE from our recently-published paper “The Road to Online Voting“.

When you vote, do you trust that your vote is counted? If you mail an absentee ballot, how do you know that it’s been received and counted accurately? Our mission is to make voting not only more accessible and secure, but also more transparent, auditable and accountable. How do we do that? We’ve built a way for voting to happen on the thing that many of you carry around in your pocket each day — your smartphone. Here, we share how it works for you, as the voter, to vote with your smartphone, how you can verify that your vote was counted, and how your Election Office can verify that all […]

DENVER, CO — Two weeks ago, the City of Denver closed the polls for its Municipal elections. For the first time, it ran a pilot program with Voatz to allow overseas citizens, military personnel and their dependents to vote from their mobile devices. Military voters and citizens around the world were able to download the Voatz app, use their mobile devices to verify their identity, securely and anonymously cast their votes, and verify that their vote was counted correctly.   What is an audit? A post-election audit is a process to ensure that the equipment and procedures used to count votes during an election worked properly, and that the election […]

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 […]

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 […]

The Voatz team is delighted to have the opportunity to present our white paper on the historic elections we conducted in West Virginia in 2018. View the full white paper here: West Virginia Mobile Voting White Paper – NASS Submission

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.