A plan by an obscure special taxing district in King County to let voters cast ballots by mobile phone is facing push back. Among the critics is Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman, who worries the plan by King Conservation District to allow mobile voting in its Feb. 11 election will leave it vulnerable to attack.
King Conservation District Executive Director Bea Covington says its goal in instituting mobile voting is to increase turnout. She says it's been difficult to engage voters because, unlike in most state and local elections, for this one people have to request a ballot.
"And participation matters in all elections, including for the supervisors of the conservation district," Covington said.
At a news conference, Covington and representatives of the nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies, which is funding the pilot project, demonstrated how the voting by smartphone, or tablet, would work. And, they insisted the vote will be secure. Covington said the phone signatures of voters will be verified by King County Elections the same way mail-in ballot signatures are.
Shortly before the news conference, which included King County Executive Dow Constantine, Wyman released a statement warning of the risk involved in mobile voting.
"Any time you connect a system online, it becomes vulnerable to attack. As my office looks ahead to the five elections we must conduct this year, I'm seeking to rollback electronic ballot return methods," she said in the statement.
Wyman also pointed out in her statement that, under Washington law, her office does not oversee some special district elections, including conservation districts.
As for why King Conservation District doesn't just mail out ballots to registered voters the way counties do, Covington said the cost would be prohibitive to do so, given the size of their budget. She said trying alternatives, such as mobile voting, make more sense as a way to engage voters.
