From Cleo Abram.

Online voting is not like online banking…
Get your Henson razor: http://hensonshaving.com/cleo

This year, more people will likely vote than ever before in history. It’s being called the “The Ultimate Election Year”, when countries with half the world’s population can vote for their leaders. This big test of democracy requires millions of polling stations and billions of ballots.

But voting’s not always easy! People might deal with long lines or need to travel far distances. In the US, we vote on a Tuesday, so people often need to take time off work…

I’m really excited to vote! And I’ve also been wondering… wouldn’t it be easier if I could just… hit a button on my phone?

Why can’t I vote online? And what would happen if I could?

Over the past two months, I called up a bunch of voting and security experts to try to answer that question. And the answer I found is more controversial, complicated, and high stakes than I could have ever imagined…

Chapters:
0:00 Why can’t I vote online?
1:12 Don’t people already vote online?
2:00 How does voting work now?
2:58 Why do people want online voting?
3:50 What would GOOD online voting actually take?
4:16 How do you ID people?
5:12 How do you prevent coercion?
5:53 But wait… I bank online!
7:31 How do you stop hackers?
8:35 What’s the Benaloh Challenge?
10:36 What’s the biggest challenge with online voting?
11:20 It’s not just technical problems. It’s political, too.
12:13 The most important part

You can find me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram
On TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram
Or on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/cleoabram

Bio:
Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, Huge If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent, Cleo was a video producer for Vox. She wrote and directed the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox’s Netflix show, Explained. She produced videos for Vox’s popular YouTube channel, was the host and senior producer of Vox’s first ever daily show, Answered, and was co-host and producer of Vox’s YouTube Originals show, Glad You Asked.

Additional reading and watching:
– Election Administration and Voting Survey 2020 Comprehensive Report: https://www.eac.gov/sites/default/files/document_library/files/2020_EAVS_Report_Final_508c.pdf
– The Future of Voting: End to End Verifiable Internet Voting, Specification and Feasibility Study: https://usvotefoundation-drupal.s3.amazonaws.com/prod/E2EVIV_full_report.pdf
– Why Electronic Voting Is A Bad Idea, Tom Scott: https://youtu.be/w3_0x6oaDmI?si=cjUxIPiqIqcXWzCy
– Why Electronic Voting Is Still A Bad Idea, Tom Scott: https://youtu.be/LkH2r-sNjQs?si=76jlGnnfMXbm0yd6
– The Electoral College, explained, Vox: https://youtu.be/ajavsMbCapY?si=IcIQSj7cDyNAOFq4
– How the US counts votes, Vox: https://youtu.be/WiCaNBRAxQM?si=r_ZOHuu0bzZV1h30
– Why Democracy is mathematically impossible (maybe), Veritasium: https://youtu.be/qf7ws2DF-zk?si=W9TmlwHOxzMlxcmq
– Gerrymandering, explained: CGP Grey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mky11UJb9AY&ab_channel=CGPGrey
– The Logistics of the US Election, Wendover Productions: https://youtu.be/RyG7nzteG64?si=eJ5f1_4jgkMBdFFX
– Giant Leap for the Space Crowd: Voting, NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/26/us/giant-leap-for-the-space-crowd-voting.html

Vox: https://www.vox.com/authors/cleo-abram
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10108242/

Gear I use:
Camera: Sony A7SIII
Lens: Sony 16–35 mm F2.8 GM
Audio: Rode NT USB

Music: Musicbed, Tom Fox

Follow along for more episodes of Huge If True: https://www.youtube.com/cleoabram?sub_confirmation=1

—
Welcome to the joke down low:

How does a phone propose?
With a ring!

Find a way to use “ring” in a comment to let me know you’re a real one who made it to the end of the description 🙂