S1E19 Blockchain for Voting with Sheila Nix from Tusk Philanthropies and Jason Truppi from ShiftState Security

Sheila (former Joe Biden campaign manager) and Jason (ex-FBI cyber security agent, focused on Bitcoin and nation state election fraud) give us a detailed view into how Blockchain is already being used in state and local elections in the US, what the key capabilities are for mobile voting platforms, and how they have overcome bias and challenges around security, UX and standards to drive transformation in the US and Europe.
In this episode we discuss:
- The issues with voting security and accountability today
- How the FBI evaluates Blockchain, Bitcoin, and nation state attempts to influence elections
- Blockchain voting pilots in West Virginia (military and ex-pats) and Denver (mayoral and municipal elections)
- Key components of a mobile voting platform (voter authentication, ballot marking, data management, threat monitoring)
- Which Blockchain platforms and node configurations are used to underpin mobile voting propositions
- Would democratic and republic parties consider hosting election nodes and what voter data is actually stored on-chain
- Common issues, challenges and misconceptions around Blockchain from stakeholders in the political sphere
- What more is required in terms of functionality, security, standards, open sourcing etc. to scale use of mobile voting
- Other applications outside political voting (corporate governance, universities, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame)
Links to topics discussed in the show:
Sheila's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheila-nix-83399424
Tusk Philanthropies: https://tuskphilanthropies.com
Mobile Voting.org: https://mobilevoting.org
Jason's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasontruppi
ShiftState Security: https://www.theshiftstate.com
Voatz: https://voatz.com
West Virginia Case Study: https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/10/18080518/blockchain-voting-mobile-app-west-virginia-voatz
Denver Case Study: https://cointelegraph.com/news/denver-municipal-election-another-small-stop-on-the-road-to-universal-blockchain-voting