VotingWorks is a nonprofit organization that creates and sells open-source voting systems in the U.S. They currently have three products: one for casting and counting ballots,[1] another, named Arlo, for risk-limiting audits (RLAs),[2] and a third for accessible at-home voting.
| Formation | 2018 |
|---|---|
| Type | Nonprofit |
| Headquarters | N/A (Virtual) |
Executive Director | Ben Adida |
| Website | https://voting.works |
Spenser Mestel praised VotingWorks as helping to break up the monopoly of three voting systems owned by private equity firms and bring transparency and more security to the voting process.[3] He also praised the organization for being transparent about its donors and criticized the private equity firms for not disclosing their investors.[3]
Organization
editVotingWorks is a 501(c)3 founded in 2018. At the time, the next youngest election systems provider in the United States was 13 years older, with the second youngest being 40 years older.[4] Ben Adida, who helped found the organization, holds a PhD from MIT in cryptography with a focus on elections and had previously worked as the Director of Engineering at Mozilla and Square.[4] VotingWorks had a staff of 15 as of 2021.[4]
Adoption
editIn 2019, VotingWorks piloted its election systems for vote counting in the primary and general elections in Choctaw County, Mississippi, thanks in part to a favorable regulatory environment.[5] Since then, other counties in Mississippi have signed-on and the state of New Hampshire has conducted a pilot,[1] with other counties such as San Francisco looking to work with VotingWorks.[6] New Hampshire's audit of its pilot found the software to be accurate, but the state has requested some hardware improvements.[7][8] Officials in Mississippi have praised how easy it is to use.[3]
Risk-limiting audits have also been performed using VotingWorks' other product, Arlo, in a few states including in Georgia.[2]
| Vote Casting+Counting | Risk-Limiting Audit | Accessible Vote-by-mail | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | ᚷ[9] | ||
| Kentucky | ᚷ[9] | ||
| Massachusetts | ᚷ[10][9] | ||
| Mississippi | ᚷ*[11][5] | ||
| New Hampshire | ᚷ*[1] | ᚷ[10][9] | |
| Georgia | ᚷ[12][11][2] | ||
| Michigan | ᚷ[11] | ||
| Pennsylvania | ᚷ[11] | ||
| Rhode Island | ᚷ[11] | ||
| Virginia | ᚷ[11] | ||
| California | ᚷ*[11] | ||
| Nevada | ᚷ*[11] | ||
| New Jersey | ᚷ*[11] | ᚷ[9] | |
| North Carolina | ᚷ*[11] | ||
| Washington | ᚷ*[11] |
*select local jurisdictions (vs. statewide use)
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c Han, Jeongyoon (November 8, 2022). "3 N.H. towns are testing out new ballot counting machines that use open source software". WBUR. Retrieved 2022-11-25.
- ^ a b c O'Neill, Patrick Howell (December 16, 2020). "The key to future election security starts with a roll of the dice". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
- ^ a b c Mestel, Spenser (February 28, 2024). "The Start-Up Busting the Voting Machine Monopoly". Undark Magazine – via Pulitzer Center.
- ^ a b c Wofford, Ben (June 25, 2021). "One Man's Quest to Break Open the Secretive World of American Voting Machines". Politico.
- ^ a b Huseman, Jessica (November 12, 2019). "The Way America Votes Is Broken. In One Rural County, a Nonprofit Showed a Way Forward". ProPublica. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
- ^ Elder, Jeff (November 14, 2021). "How one company came to control San Francisco's elections". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
- ^ Brooks, David (2023-01-11). "State audit of open-source voting machine gives thumbs-up, mostly". Concord Monitor. Retrieved 2023-06-18.
- ^ Han, Jeongyoon (2023-01-16). "NH Ballot Law Commission moves forward with assessing new counting machines". New Hampshire Public Radio. Retrieved 2023-06-18.
- ^ a b c d e "Voting Equipment Database – VotingWorks VX Accessible Vote-by-Mail". Verified Voting Foundation. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
- ^ a b Corpuz, Mina (November 2, 2020). "Technology, advocacy groups help make voting accessible for people with disabilities". SouthCoastTODAY.com - The Standard Times. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "VotingWorks FAQ". www.voting.works. Retrieved 2022-12-04.
- ^ "Georgia Sec. of State chooses own race for election audit". 11Alive.com. November 10, 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-09.