Is Mobile Voting the Solution to America's Turnout Problem?

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Photo by freestocks on Unsplash
Created: 18 Nov, 2024
1 min read

Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

In the latest episode of Andrew Yang's Forward Podcast, Yang talks with Tusk Ventures Founder and CEO Badley Tusk about his proposal for secure mobile voting to solve a widespread voter turnout problem in the US. 

Tusk says the problem is most dire in primary elections, where 10-15% of voters turn out for mayoral, city council, state rep, and other primaries -- which ensures that the most control goes to the far right, the far left, and special interest groups that know how to move voters. 

Tusk says his team has created a secure mobile voting technology that will be available for free to any government that wants to use it to give voters an additional option on top of in-person and absentee/vote-by-mail. 

"The goal is to make it as simple and easy as possible, but because it is digital, some of the challenges in the other forms of voting -- under voting, overvoting, straight pencil marks, hanging chads -- none of that is an issue," Tusk said. 

"And just to be clear, i am not arguing that mobile voting should replace any form of voting. I just want to give people an additional option."  Since security is a concern, he goes into detail on how multi-factor voter identification and vote encryptions would work.

Here is the full episode description:

"Discover how low voter turnout and polarized politics are shaping our government in ways most of us don’t realize. Bradley Tusk presents a visionary solution with secure mobile voting, a game-changing innovation designed to amplify civic engagement and transform our antiquated political system. This compelling discussion reveals how technology can empower citizens, provide for more representative voting, and potentially be our last hope for saving American democracy."

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Check out the full conversation above. 

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