1/ There continues to be an enormous gap in the public's understanding of voting security: Tim Cook tells @karaswisher he hopes Americans eventually vote on their iPhones.
We, election security experts, need to step up our communication game big time.
businessinsider.com/apple-ceo-tim-…
We, election security experts, need to step up our communication game big time.
businessinsider.com/apple-ceo-tim-…
2/ We need to really empathize with those who advocate for Internet/Mobile voting.
Of course it makes sense that people would want this! If we dismiss it out of hand, if we laugh it off, we're not going to successfully make our case.
It's not obvious that this is a bad idea!
Of course it makes sense that people would want this! If we dismiss it out of hand, if we laugh it off, we're not going to successfully make our case.
It's not obvious that this is a bad idea!
3/ And we have to keep in mind that there are plenty of smart well-meaning people who will gladly implement Internet voting if we don't successfully make our case.
These folks are not stupid or ignorant. They're just not steeped in the very weird peculiarities of voting.
These folks are not stupid or ignorant. They're just not steeped in the very weird peculiarities of voting.
4/ We also need to face some hard truths: for people in the military, or for many people with disabilities, the voting experience today is just not good enough.
We better make those experiences better, or the pressure to do Internet voting will only grow.
We better make those experiences better, or the pressure to do Internet voting will only grow.
5/ I don't have a silver bullet... and I don't think there is one. To borrow @bhorowitz's terminology, all we have here is a lot of lead bullets.
We must engage. We must explain. Over & over again. Find the right analogies. Work through the nitty gritty. Be patient & respectful.
We must engage. We must explain. Over & over again. Find the right analogies. Work through the nitty gritty. Be patient & respectful.
6/ I spent much of this podcast on the topic:
at-a-distance.simplecast.com/episodes/ben-a…
I've written numerous blog posts and Twitter threads.
And I'll need to do more.
at-a-distance.simplecast.com/episodes/ben-a…
I've written numerous blog posts and Twitter threads.
And I'll need to do more.
7/ Again, because it bears repeating: "Internet Voting is Bad" doesn't make sense to folks who aren't steeped in the pecularities of voting security.
It's reasonable for most people to think that, if we just work at it hard enough, surely we can solve it.
It's reasonable for most people to think that, if we just work at it hard enough, surely we can solve it.
8/ We have to keep explaining the threat model. Give folks an intuition for why the voter needs a paper ballot to verify directly, without mediation by either a touchscreen or a blockchain. Explain crisply how banking and health online are totally different problems.
9/ We have to come up with better answers as to why even voters with disabilities, in particular blind voters, should have a paper ballot, because frankly our current explanations just aren't good enough.
10/ And of course, we have to keep making the paper-based voting experience better. The larger the gap in convenience, the larger the demand for a system that we unfortunately know will be insecure.
11/ It is our job, as experts, to build better systems, and to communicate these hard technical ideas as to why Internet/mobile voting isn't good enough.
It's on us. So let's keep at it.
It's on us. So let's keep at it.
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