Suppose you are part of an organization that requires voting from your staff or members. In that case, you may run into hiccups and obstacles if you have low voter turnout or a majority of your voters are absent during the election. Whether it’s nonprofit staff votes, union officer votes, or the election of a board of directors, without proper or proportional representation by your voters, you may have to delay your election, slowing down your organization.
Hybrid voting systems are one way to improve voter turnout. Hybrid voting is a method that allows your organization to combine in-person voting with digital voting. It gives voters multiple ways to submit their votes, making the voting process more convenient and can lead to election results being finalized more quickly. This is ideal for organizations where members are long-distance or need help operating electronic voting.
In-person votes can be submitted via ballot, while electronic votes can be submitted through various methods, including mobile voting. While mobile voting is a relatively new concept, only some can say with absolute certainty that either method is 100% secure.
New technologies continue to advance to secure digital voting systems rapidly. Several states in the United States have had mobile voting options since 2018. There is plenty of evidence that this method can be secure, but without the proper election support and security systems, it can leave gaps that can lead to breaches.
The mere mention of electronic or digital voting can prompt questions from voters, including, “What is mobile voting?” Mobile voting works just like a digital version of paper absentee voting. In some instances, voters may not be able to receive a paper ballot in the mail. When paper absentee voting is unavailable, voters can instead vote using their smartphone, tablet, or computer. This allows them to submit their votes in a timely manner and make sure their voices are heard.
There are several pros and cons related to mobile voting. Let’s explore these benefits and downsides to determine if the mobile voting option fits your organization.
Mobile voting is extremely convenient. With the correct election support infrastructure, it can be very intuitive. A few other benefits of mobile voting include:
This environmentally-friendly voting method makes voting accessible to all parties in your organization. It reduces the barriers that can stop your voters from participating in an election. This option allows voters to submit their ballots anytime within the election period from any location.
Digital and mobile voting conserves resources and takes the stress out of preparing for your election process. With in-person voting, organizers must prepare a space and allocate time for the vote, prepare and print ballots, and manually organize the vote count.
With mobile voting, organizers simply input the options into the program and send out ballots to voters digitally. This is a greener method because it does not require anyone to print and mail ballots.
The primary concern of mobile voting is whether or not it’s safe and secure. Let’s take a closer look at what is the definition of election cybersecurity and what you need to know about this topic.
Election cybersecurity protects the integrity of an election and voting infrastructures in the digital space. These systems exist to protect the election process that may be subject to cyberattacks or hackers. As technology evolves, so do cyber threats and attacks.
However, these risks can be minimized.
Mobile voting can be safe and secure if your organization works with a reputable and expert elections support agency such as ElectionBuddy. However, lower-end options or systems must be equipped with solid election security (e.g., SurveyMonkey can leave your ballots vulnerable to hackers and data corruption.
ElectionBuddy stays ahead of the curve with all things related to digital ballots and elections, protecting your elections from cyber threats. Check out our website for more information about our election services or how we can optimize your election practices!
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