Technology has become so advanced and people do everything through their smart phones. Now it’s time for voting also .King County, in Washington has  announced  that it’s implementing smart phone voting for an upcoming board of supervisors’ election.

King County’s 1.2 million residents can use their cell phones to vote in the election. The program is a collaboration between King County Elections; the county’s conservation district; mobile-voting nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies; the National Cyber security Center; and Democracy Live, a technology firm that develops electronic balloting.

 “It will be easier than ever for voters to access their Conservation District ballot and cast their vote,” said Julie Wise, King County director of elections, in a statement. “Here at King County Elections, we are always looking for ways to improve access and engage our voters and this election could be a key step in moving toward electronic access and return for voters across the region.”

Of course, internet voting carries many of the same risks as other internet activity: links can be spoofed, devices can be compromised by malware, users can be impersonated, and systems can be DDoS’d.

In 2018, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine had warned about all forms of online voting, recommending that US elections stick to paper ballots for the foreseeable future. The US Senate Intelligence Committee also warned against internet voting as well in its heavily redacted report on Russian election interference, which was released during last July.

However, other counties have successfully implemented forms of smartphone voting. West Virginia allowed overseas voters to submit absentee ballots via a voting app called Voatz in the 2018 midterm election. Around 150 people voted that way, however, a small fraction of King County’s eligible electorate. Counties in Utah, Oregon, and Colorado have also tested mobile voting for small numbers of overseas voters.

West Virginia’s online ballots went through an app dedicated to secure voting, which verified each voter’s identity via facial or fingerprint recognition. King County voters can submit through a mobile web portal, verifying their identities with their name, birth date, and a signature. Democracy Live CEO Bryan Finney told NPR that officials in Washington will be able to verify signatures since the state votes entirely by mail. The elections office plans to count paper copies of all electronic ballots as well.