Two Oregon counties testing blockchain mobile voting app

Two counties in Oregon will introduce blockchain-based mobile voting in the November by-elections.

Tusk Philanthropies Nonprofit Announces
about its partnership with Jackson and Umatilla counties in Oregon to launch the Voatz blockchain-based mobile voting platform. As part of the pilot project, citizens will be able to vote using their smartphones. Voting security is ensured through blockchain and face recognition technology.

Testing is available only for a small group of voters – military personnel abroad, their dependents and other voters located outside the country. They will be able to vote through a mobile application developed by Tusk Philanthropies.

Umatilla County Administrative Services Director Dan Lonai said the goal of the test is to increase voter participation and make it easier for citizens to exercise their voting rights. This latest e-voting pilot project is a collaboration between Oregon counties, the Voatz mobile voting platform, the Tusk Philanthropies and the National Cybersecurity Center.

In the spring of last year, the US state of West Virginia began to test
voting system through the Voatz mobile application on the blockchain for voters in the army and voting in absentia. To date, the startup has implemented 31 pilot blockchain voting projects, including in Denver and Utah County this summer.

In August, it was reported that West Virginia is introducing voting on the Voatz-based blockchain in all counties in the region. In addition, a recently unknown hacker attempted to discredit a vote deployed by West Virginia authorities, but failed.