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County approves memorandum to offer electronic UOCAVA voting option after security discussion
Summary
Utah County commissioners approved an MOU to allow overseas and certain disabled voters to submit ballots via a mobile app under UOCAVA, after staff addressed security concerns raised about an MIT report and described paper-ballot safeguards and audit trails.
Utah County commissioners on a unanimous vote approved a memorandum of understanding to permit an electronic voting option for voters covered by the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA).
The issue prompted questions from Commissioner Lee, who cited an MIT research paper identifying security vulnerabilities in an earlier version of a mobile voting app. "When I read down through that from MIT, it gives me pause," Lee said, pressing staff for details about the report and safeguards.
Josh from the Clerk-Auditor's office said staff had reviewed the report, consulted the software provider and contacted the Department of Homeland Security and other jurisdictions using the app. He said the researchers used a version of the app about 27 versions old and a test environment that did not replicate the actual server. Josh described the county's process: voters opting into the system are verified, assigned an encrypted serial identifier and cast a digital ballot; staff print a paper ballot that is scanned and tabulated alongside other paper ballots; the county's election tabulation systems remain physically isolated from the Internet and an audit trail is maintained so ballots delivered electronically are matched to printed records.
"We print them on paper ballots and we scan them," Josh said. "There's nothing about this system that is digitally or electronically connected to any of our other systems." He added the option is limited to overseas and certain disabled voters and is voluntary; voters may still use traditional paper absentee mechanisms.
Commissioner Lee and other commissioners pressed staff about chain of custody, signature verification and whether the electronic delivery would compromise ballot secrecy. Josh reiterated that electronic delivery yields a non'personally identifiable serial number so election officials can match a serial number to a printed ballot without knowing which voter cast it.
After the exchange, a motion to approve the MOU authorizing the commissioners to sign was moved and passed 3-0.
What happens next: the Clerk-Auditor's office will continue to finalize implementation details and perform the routine insurance/verifications and technical checks required before offering the option to eligible voters.
