In the run-up to the 2016 U.S. Election, Russian Hackers penetrated State Voter Registration Databases, and Russia's Internet Research Agency (IRA) targeted Millions of Social Media Users with Pro-Trump Propaganda Posts and Ads. On Election Day, Voting Machines Malfunctioned in at least Nine States.
Today, about a Quarter of the States do Not Insist on Voting Equipment that Generates the Paper Trails needed for Rigorous Postelection Audits. How can we be sure, that the 2020 Elections will be Fair and Tamper Free?
To start, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) dropped his Opposition to an Amendment providing $250 Million more in New Federal Funding on State's Election Security, but the States must Match 20% to receive their Money. The Money will go to Help State Election Security by Replacing Outdated Voting Equipment and Improve Cybersecurity.
Another Positive Development is that Technologists in the Private and Nonprofit Sectors are tackling the Election Security Challenge at Multiple Levels.
Microsoft is Partnering with Galois, a Portland, OR, based Firm focused on Trustworthy Computing, to Build a Free, Open-Source Software Kit, for Election Officials called ElectionGuard. It uses a Technique called Homomorphic Encryption to Maintain Voter Anonymity will Allowing Anyone to Verify that Votes have been Correctly Counted.
A San Francisco, CA, Nonprofit VotingWorks is Creating Free, Open-Source Software that Helps Jurisdictions run Risk-Limiting Audits, which have emerged as the Gold Standard for Efficiently Determining the Outcome of an Election was Correct.
A Boston, MA, Start-UP called VOTZ whose iOS and Android Apps has already been used in Three States to allow Remote Voting by Military Personnel stationed Abroad and People with Disabilities. It uses Video Selfies to Verify Voters' Identities and sends Blockchain-Encrypted Votes to a Digital Lockbox. On Election Day, Officials in the Voters' Jurisdiction Open the Lockbox, Print Corresponding Paper Ballots creating an Auditable Paper Trail, and run them through Standard Optical Scanners.
The Bad News is the that None of this Technology will be Ready for Wide Distribution in the 2020 Election. ElectionGuard is only in the Pilot-Testing Phase. Voatz's most Significant Remote Voting Project, during West Virginia's 2018 Midterm Elections, involved only 144 Ballots in 24 Counties.
None of these Fixes Addresses Voters' Vulnerability to Social Media-based Influence Operations. We will have to wait to see how well the Social-Media Giants do during and after the 2020 Elections.
In the end, an Election is a Complex Sociotechnical Machine, which means All Citizens, not just Election Officials, will need to be on Guard in 2020 and Beyond.
Steps Social Media Companies should take to Prepare for 2020, including:
- Detect and Remove Deepfake Videos: Realistic but Fraudulent Videos have the Potential to Undermine Political Candidates and Exacerbate Voter Cynicism.
- Remove False Content in General: The Platforms already Remove Hate Speech, Voter Suppression, and other Categories of Content.
- Hire a Senior Content Overseer: Each company needs an Executive with Clout to Supervise the Process of Guarding against Disinformation.
- Improve Industry-Wide Collaboration on Disinformation: For example, when One Platform takes Down Abusive Accounts, Other Media companies should do the Same with Affiliated Accounts.
- Let Uses Know who Payed-For the Content and Who Distributed it.
- Teach Social Media Literacy in a more Direct, Sustained way: Users have to take Responsibility for Recognizing False Content, but they need More Help to do it.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
