We live in a digital age, yet voting remains woefully outdated. The nation’s recent experience holding a presidential election during a pandemic highlights how important it is to modernize the voting process. The benefits of transitioning to online voting are numerous, including easier access as voters would no longer be required to wait in long lines and greater efficiency as votes would be tabulated electronically. As a recent article in Foreign Policy put it, “At a time when many organizations are going through a digital transformation, it’s time for the United States itself to join in.”
As we consider how best to modernize the election process it’s imperative that we not overlook the inherent security concerns. Elections are a prime target for hackers for a variety of purposes--ranging from individual entities to sophisticated, state sponsored actors. That’s why it’s essential that the security community be included in all efforts to transform the election process. Only when technology providers and all levels of government collaborate to avail of the latest technologies can we effectively transform the voting process and, in so doing, further protect democracy.