There have already been multiple reports of voters being turned away at polling places due to lack of polling place preparation and other logistical failures. For example, the ABC affiliate in Detroit reported people who arrived at the polling place at Martin Luther King Jr. High School this morning were unable to vote because the voting machines were missing. “Due to miscommunication, the machines had been locked in a closet on the opposite end of the campus that election workers were unable to access.” Lines formed because of broken machines in Atlanta, North Carolina said humidity was preventing its machines from working. The Houston Chronicle reported that multiple polling places across the city are “experiencing technical difficulties with machines, leading to long lines.” One polling place had a line of around 70 people as of 8:00 AM. Florida often makes the headlines but temperatures in some states are near freezing and unbearable for some senior and ill voters. In past elections, leaders have shown up on time but the ballots came hours later because a truck got lost. In some cases fights broke out in the voter line, scaring many away. This is just a small sample of many failures of our 150-year-old system. The list of problems at the polling places is very long as I detailed in my research for Election Attitude – How Internet Voting Leads to a Stronger Democracy.

Mobile Internet voting with blockchain technology can solve this problem. The inhibitor is election officials and politicians who are afraid of the Internet. Their fear is fueled by anti-Internet voting activists. The root of the problem can be understood by considering the following three scenarios:

A. A perfect Internet system. All Windows 95 and other older systems have been eliminated. There are no hackers, no viruses, and no malfunctions. 100% of the population has a perfect device with flawless authentication and they are well versed in how to use them.

B. The voting system using blockchain technology, smart phones, and the Internet. The system would support finger or face identification for authentication. All voting data would be encrypted. Choices on the screen would be clear, expanded text sizes would be available, and audio provided for those who are hearing impaired. Links would provide details about a candidate or an issue being voted on. Not everyone would be required to use the Internet voting systems. For those without a computer or who don’t want to use a computer, they will be able to go to a local polling place or public library to use the computer there. For those who do not want to use one of these computers, they will be able to vote with a paper ballot. Voters using a smart phone or computer can vote multiple times with only their last vote counting. Votes remain private and voters will be able to confirm their vote was counted.

C. Today’s system which is full of problems such as the few listed above. Tens of millions of Americans who are eligible to vote, will not vote for a long list of reasons. Some will be sick on election day, be called away on assignment at the last minute by their employer, not be able to get off of work, intimidated by weather or ours-long lines, and many other reasons. In 2016, 100,000,000 people fell into these categories and were therefore disenfranchised.

Now, consider A, B, and C. The anti-Internet voting activists want to compare scenario B to scenario A, which we will never have. They refuse to compare it to scenario C which disenfranchises huge numbers of voters.

With my right arm in a sling, this blog post was dictated using an iPhone XS Max. I apologize for any typos it made on my behalf.