West Virginia is testing a secure military mobile voting solution for military service members who can’t vote in person.  It will become the first such state to test mobile voting by blockchain in a federal election

. Secretary of State Mac Warner has declared the launch of a secure military mobile voting solution for the upcoming May 8th primary election. This is a pilot project and will at first be restricted to two counties, namely Harrison County and Monongalia County. With this move deployed and enlisted military voters will have the ability to vote using the new system beginning Friday, March 23, 2018, until the point when polls are closed on primary election day on May 8, 2018. All that they need to cast their vote is a regular Apple or Android smartphone and approved State or Federal ID.

The objective of this venture is to offer a secure military mobile voting solution that is irrefutable, straightforward, and more secure and open than currently available mobile voting system. It will at first be constrained to military voters who are overseas to vote in Harrison and Monongalia counties. In any case, the state intends to extend the program to each of the 55 counties in the upcoming November general election if this pilot project proves fruitful.

This pilot venture is the first of its kind in the United States. Warner said in a statement “West Virginia is taking the lead in providing safe, secure and accurate voting systems to encourage voter participation at every level”. The move likely comes amid renewed voting scrutiny over the 2016 presidential election with Warner saying “We’re working hard to increase the level of confidence citizens have in our election process. Increased confidence results in increased participation.”

This safe military portable voting pilot venture is a joint effort between the Office of the Secretary of State of West Virginia, Voatz, Tusk/Montgomery Philanthropies, New America and the Blockchain Trust Accelerator. Voatz is the sole supplier planning the versatile voting stage. It is an award winning innovation startup situated in Boston MA. Its creative and exceptionally secure mobile voting stage has been utilized by more than 70,000 voters in different elections and voting occasions in numerous purviews including a few pilot ventures such as town meeting voting and participatory budget voting. The Voatz app centers around providing cutting-edge security close by a simple to use interface that empowers voters to make their voices heard in a free and open way.

No one’s counting the program as a success yet. For the program to be utilized, military voters in the two counties need to apply for unique non-attendant status and download the protected application on an Apple or Android telephone or tablet.