"Vote with Your Phone" by Bradley Tusk

We think nothing of ordering dinner, shopping for clothes, or banking on our phones anymore. So why not vote?That’s what Bradley Tusk has been working on. In his book, Vote with Your Phone: Why Mobile Voting Is Our Final Shot at Saving Democracy, the New York venture capitalist spells out the details and the benefits of making it easier for people to vote.Along with the general public, Tusk wants to reach young people, folks who have grown up relying on their smartphones. “Typically, young people have organized around radical causes—civil rights, women’s rights, the anti-war movement. But today, almost incredibly, the most radical possibility is finding common ground. The next great reform will come from pushing the country into the middle and forcing our government to become competent and functional again,” he said.What makes mobile voting safe is something called end-to-end verification, said Tusk. “It gives voters the ability to verify their ballot is recorded and cast correctly and that nothing tampered with their vote,” he said.Mobile voting would be another option for voters, Tusk suggests. “Voting by phone is effectively the same thing as voting by mail,” he said. Voters would be free to vote any way they please, including using the mails, or going to the polls to register a vote in person, he said. The benefit, of course, is that mobile voting would increase participation. Instead of a 10 percent voter turnout for a primary, you could see a 40 to 50 percent turnout, said Tusk.Having served as deputy governor in Illinois (2003-2006) and campaign manager for Mike Bloomberg’s 2009 mayoral bid, Tusk knows about political realities. He knows that making it easier for voters to vote won’t come easily. “The real opposition to mobile voting will ultimately come from the political world,” he said.That’s where people need to weigh in, said Tusk. “We at the Mobile Voting Project can draft and get bills introduced that would legalize mobile voting in your state. But we can only pass those bills if you get involved,” said Tusk, addressing the nation’s youth.This year, a local election in Anchorage, Alaska, for the first time, will allow mobile voting. Tusk hopes that other local elections will soon follow. More information is available at mobilevoting.org.