West Virginia's Latest Experiment: Blockchain Elections
The 2016 presidential election brought to light just how archaic and vulnerable America’s voting system is, raising questions of how to protect democracy from foreign influences and digital hacks in the future.
Venture capitalist Bradley Tusk thinks blockchain could be the answer.
“Long term, I believe that every American should be able to vote in any election on their phone,” the founder and CEO of Tusk Montgomery Philanthropies told Cheddar Thursday.
Through his foundation, Tusk currently funds America’s first blockchain-powered voting experiment in West Virginia.
In March, the state launched a secure app to enable deployed military voters from a few counties to vote from wherever they are.
“We already have a handful of votes from various locations,” said Mac Warner, West Virginia’s Secretary of State.
“I was in the military and I’ve had those experiences where it’s difficult to vote. Think of the soldier on the hillside in Afghanistan...When they have those few minutes to think about an election back home, they want to vote the same way they order something from Amazon.”
Following this pilot program, the state wants to expand the program ahead of the midterm elections in November.
Tusk says the technology, which is already upending a range of industries from banking to art, provides a safer alternative to the current system.
“Blockchain...really is a much, much, much safer way to conduct elections not only compared to just regular online mobile voting, if someone were to try that, but even compared to the systems we have right now,” said Tusk.
For a military member to vote, the app not only requires details from their government-issued ID cards, but also uses [facial recognition and fingerprint scans](https://cheddar.com/videos/how-does-blockchain-powered-voting-work) to verify a voter’s identity.
“I’m very secure in the integrity of this election process,” sayd Warner.
Tusk, who managed former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s campaign, believes that low voter turnout leads to increased polarization among candidates and that this technology, though nascent, could in the long-term drastically change that.
“If, all of a sudden, voting was as easy as pulling out your phone and turnout went from 12 percent to 60 percent, then those same politicians would be forced to represent the views of the mainstream.
“To me, that’s the value in doing this. Right now, we don’t have a true represent of democracy,” said Tusk.
Apple wrapped up its first product event of the year called 'Peek Performance.' The event showcased Apple's new affordable iPhone, an iPad air update, and the most powerful mac chip yet. Ian Sherr, editor at large at CNET, joins Cheddar News to discuss the highlights of the event.
Uber Lyft and Doordash are all set to spend $1 million dollars on a campaign and efforts to stop lawmakers from classifying their gig workers as employees. The campaign features TV and online ads highlighting Washington area workers who say they prefer the flexibility of being an independent contractor rather than following the model of a company employee. Professor at NYU. Stern School of Business and author of the sharing economy, Arun Sundararajan, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Rachel Van Nortwick, CEO and Founder of Vinylly, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss how this dating app is designed with music lovers in mind, pairing matches based on each individual's unique taste in music.
Stock trading app Robinhood already has been offering cryptocurrency investments but seems further excited about the asset class following President Biden's recent announcement of an executive order. Dan Gallagher, the chief legal and corporate affairs officer for Robinhood, joined Cheddar News to talk about the White House's tentative vision for digital currency. "I think this executive order firmly states that, yes, crypto is here to stay, which it talks about the important competitive issues around crypto and how the United States needs to be a leader, a global leader, in innovation and technology regarding crypto," he said. Gallagher also discussed having clarity around meme stocks going forward but worried about overregulation slowing down innovation.
American private aviation company Wheels Up saw a substantial revenue increase in its Q4 earnings. With bookings ramping up for the summer — along with hopes of being on the tail-end of COVID-19 — the company is looking at a promising upcoming quarter as well. CEO Kenny Dichter joined Cheddar News to talk about the earnings reports as well as the company's new app development. "We’re following that Uber, Airbnb, Amazon playbook and are really going to disrupt this space through technology," he said.
In this edition of Tik Talk, musicians use tech to make songs with plants. The process turns electrodes in the plants into musical notes and the results just might blow your mind.
