 Last week, California State Assemblymember Buffy Wicks was forced to bring her newborn to the state Capitol’s Assembly floor in the midst of a global pandemic in order to cast her vote on a housing bill. Her request for a proxy vote was denied because recent childbirth doesn’t qualify as a high-risk condition for coronavirus. When the news broke, people admired Wicks’ commitment, but one question prevailed: why couldn’t she vote remotely when the technology is available to do so?
This is a question many people will continue to ask through COVID-19 and beyond. The pandemic has shined a spotlight on the fact that we are woefully behind in our approach to remote voting. There are many populations who desperately need a remote voting option as the pandemic and other circumstances prevent them from voting by mail or attending physical polls.
A system that does not allow the most disenfranchised to vote remotely in a pandemic cannot be considered resilient.
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THE STAKES ARE HIGH:
Limiting voting options results in the erosion of our democratic rights, raises questions about the validity of elections, and inadvertently results in voter suppression. Without electronic voting, we cannot call ourselves a completely accessible democracy.
We must move forward to allow vulnerable populations to vote.
Snapshot of vulnerable populations and their voting challenges.
Click here for a detailed downloadable version →
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Voatz Advisors Tom Williams and Gerardo Interiano both recently published thought-provoking pieces.
Tom’s op-ed comes at a time when the public is grappling with its relationship with tech and the breakdown of trust. It’s not every day you meet a tech investor asking not for “disruption,” or even fast growth, but to slow down and push for collaboration. The way forward for the public good, he argues, is building on our existing systems instead of completely disrupting them, and maintaining accountability by enacting standards that will better govern tech companies.
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Gerardo’s piece highlights one of the groups most impacted by the conversation around mobile voting -- our troops serving overseas. Overseas military personnel face disproportionate obstacles to voting and are denied their right to a private ballot under their current options of fax, email, or mail-in voting. Gerardo echoes Tom’s sentiment to slowly and deliberately test and make available new methods of voting, especially since it would significantly improve our troops’ ability to vote.
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Voatz capped off the political convention season by helping Michigan Democrats complete a successful virtual convention. It was our fourth convention with the Michigan Democratic Party and the ninth virtual convention since the start of the pandemic.
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There were so many unique challenges with this year’s convention because of the pandemic, but the Voatz platform eased many of our concerns.”
— Christy Jensen, Executive Director of the Michigan Democratic
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Michigan Democratic Party Completes Successful Virtual Convention with the Help of Mobile Voting App Voatz
Read More →
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If you belong to any of the groups identified above or represent a disenfranchised demographic, reach out to us to learn more about mobile voting.
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