VotingWorks
Open-source election software and hardware nonprofit
| Formation | 2018 |
|---|---|
| Type | Nonprofit |
| Headquarters | N/A (Virtual) |
Executive Director | Ben Adida |
| Website | https://voting.works |
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.
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
VotingWorks 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
In 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
- Civic technology
- Electoral fraud
References
- ^ 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.
