Venture capitalist Bradley Tusk has a new – but highly controversial – solution to America’s stark political divisions.
He told DailyMail.com that encouraging more people to vote would upend the primaries that are currently bringing hardliners to power.
The way to achieve that, he says, is to enable voting on a device that almost every American adult has in their pocket: a cell phone.
He spent ten million dollars building a secure app that allows people to do just that.
It would undoubtedly make voting easier – no more lines at polling stations or burdensome rules for mail-in ballots. But the idea is hotly contested.
Bradley Tusk spent $10 million building an app that enables mobile phone voting
Lines at polling places are a turn-off for many potential voters, especially during primaries, Tusk says
Critics say the system could easily fail, that Russian and Chinese hackers could disrupt U.S. elections, and that it would disproportionately increase turnout among Democratic voters, hurting the Republican Party.
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But for Tusk, it is a do-or-die moment for the world’s top democracy.
“American politics is deeply broken,” he told DailyMail.com.
“The net result is that we cannot solve real-world problems, whether they are mass shootings, immigration, affordable housing, climate, health care or education.”
Tusk is not focused on big-name elections, such as the looming presidential showdown between Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, and former President Donald Trump, a Republican.
Plenty of Americans will show up for that vote, he says.
He is interested in the past primaries that decide which candidate represents the major parties in state and local elections.
Thanks to gerrymandered districts, the ultimate winner of these contests is often determined during the primaries.
Currently, only 10 to 15 percent of voters turn out for the primaries — and they tend to be either the most progressive Democrats or the oldest and most conservative of all Republicans.
They are often single-issue voters, favoring candidates with sharp positions, whether it’s defunding the police or unfettered gun ownership.
In the 2024 primaries that won Trump and President Joe Biden their nominations, only one in ten eligible voters participated, according to a survey. Analysis from the Washington Post.
Mobile phone voting would make it easier for regular voters to participate and could increase turnout by up to 40 percent, Tusk says.
Tusk laid out his plans for mobile phone voting in his 299-page manifesto this week
19-year-old New York City student Gabby Carlos wants to vote this year, but is registered far away in her native Texas
That would bring in more centrist voters and produce more pragmatic politicians open to compromise, he adds.
It’s the “only way to move things back to the center and give politicians a reason to get things done again,” he said.
The biggest gains would be among Gen Zers, who are typically glued to their cell phones but rarely look into a polling station.
Tusk’s software, developed by his nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies, is on track to be certified by the National Institute of Science and Technology, he says.
It will be free and open source for anyone who wants to use it, he says new manifestoVote with your phone: why mobile voting is our last chance to save democracy.
The app features end-to-end authentication, air gapping, multi-factor authentication and other safeguards.
Tusk draws on his experience in tech startups and politics: he was spokesman for Senator Chuck Schumer and managed Mike Bloomberg’s 2009 campaign for mayor of New York.
In the early 2010s, he helped lead the successful effort to legalize Uber in the US through the digital lobbying of politicians.
He’s aiming for a similar win for mobile phone voting, which at first glance seems like a no-brainer.
We already trade stocks, find romance, and manage our bank accounts on phones – so why not use them to elect a member of Congress too?
The technology has already been deployed in seven US states, where it helped military personnel and people with disabilities cast ballots.
In those cases, turnout doubled, Tusk says. Those who participated said it was better than voting in person or voting by mail.
We also work abroad. Since 2005, Estonians have been voting online from their homes.
Jeremy Lugo, 21, a college student in New York City, says he may not be able to return to his family in Poughkeepsie to vote before the November election
Only about 10 percent of eligible voters show up for the primaries, where many officeholders are elected
In 2023, for the first time, more Estonians voted electronically than on paper.
Next year, the Baltic nation will allow voting via mobile phones.
But many experts reject Tusk’s plan out of hand, and their opinions carry weight.
Ronald Rivest, a cryptographer and computer scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, simply told DailyMail.com that “mobile phone voting is not secure.”
In recent testimony before Congress, he compared online voting to asking a “child to go play in traffic.”
Voting is a complicated process, especially in the US, where states and provinces set their own rules about where and how voters can cast their ballots.
It’s also a unique task for software to try to solve because you only get one chance to get it right.
A dodgy banking transaction can be reversed if fraud or another problem is discovered.
But when it comes to voting, there’s no turning back.
Widespread mobile phone voting manipulation may not come to light until several weeks after Election Day — and by then the wrong candidate could have already been sworn in.
Rivests latest research in the Journal of Cybersecurity warned that this would “significantly increase the risk of undetectable electoral failures on a national scale.”
Hackers from Russia, China, North Korea and Iran have already shown interest in influencing the US elections.
A single app processing mass voting data would be a desirable target for an American enemy looking to disrupt its democratic process.
Rivest also doubts the benefits of mobile phone voting.
He says it would do little to increase turnout and instead lead to more people losing their right to vote.
Critics of mobile phone voting say paper ballots at polling places are much more secure
Nearly every young adult in America has a cell phone that can be used as a voting tool
Although almost every young adult has a cell phone, only about three-quarters of those over 65 own a device.
DailyMail.com spoke to some young voters who, according to Tusk, were able to vote on a mobile phone for the first time.
Gabby Carlos, 19, an engineering student from New York City, has never voted.
She is registered in her native Texas, but says it was “too difficult” to get a ballot this year because the “deadlines are very early.”
‘In a perfect world, I guess [phone voting] would be nice, but I think it would be a problem with cybersecurity, for example.’
Another New York City student, Jeremy Lugo, 21, wants to cast his first-ever ballot but may not return to his family in Poughkeepsie for early in-person voting before November.
Tusk’s app “would get many more people to vote,” says Lugo.
“But even if it’s done right, it can be hacked.”
Tusk is repeatedly confronted with these concerns.
He insists his system is secure, but admits he still has much to do to convince election leaders to approve it.
Republicans are increasingly wary when it comes to voting security, thanks to Trump’s rejection of his 2020 defeat and alleging widespread fraud at voting terminals, mail-in ballots and other systems.
Tusk says he will start small and expand incrementally: cellphone voting in municipal and school board elections next year, before rolling out in statewide elections and even congressional seats.
The stakes are too high for us to sit on our hands, he says.
“If we don’t solve these problems, we may not even be one country in 25 years,” he told DailyMail.com.
