National: Voting in the pandemic: Why mobile applications are not the answer | Brent Hansen/GCN
As we all sit together in isolation, it seems only natural to begin to ask the question of how voting for public office will take place across the U.S. The prevailing sentiment indicates that some type of new online system in place of in-person or current absentee methods may offer a solution. Popular media is giving voice to opinions from election officials and political leaders that some extraordinary measures must be taken to ensure elections can continue despite shelter-in-place directives. These opinions are tempered with the acknowledgement that such extraordinary measures must have equally extraordinary security safeguards to protect both the integrity of the votes and the personal information of the voters. That’s sensible, but at the same time we must acknowledge that mobile application safeguards are not yet ready.