Microsoft Just Unveiled Technology That Will Allow Voters To Track Their Ballots In The 2020 Election
Microsoft is taking a stand to support election security.
The software company announced it would release an open-source software development kit called ElectionGuard.
ElectionGuard uses encryption techniques to let voters know once their ballots are counted.
More importantly: The software will, according to NPR, "allow election officials and third parties to verify election results to make sure there was no interference with the results.
CEO @SatyaNadella announced #ElectionGuard onstage @MicrosoftBuild this morning. Here’s why this should matter to d… https://t.co/dnYBC7Tc0e— Microsoft On the Issues (@Microsoft On the Issues) 1557174759.0
Microsoft developed ElectionGuard with computer science company Galois. The software will be available free of charge for election technology vendors.
ElectionGuard would provide voters with a unique code that would not reveal who or what they did or didn't vote for. Voters could then use the code to "follow" their vote from the moment they cast it.
Speaking to NPR, Tom Burt, Microsoft's vice president of customer security and trust, said:
"It's very much like the cybersecurity version of a tamper-proof bottle. Tamper-proof bottles don't prevent any hack of the contents of the bottle, but it makes it makes it harder, and it definitely reveals when the tampering has occurred."
According to Joe Kiniry, a principal scientist at Galois says his company will use this software as part of an open-source voting system that is being designed thanks to a grant from the Department of Defense.
It's not a perfect system, he says, but it should serve as a model for private companies "to build off of":
"It gives the ability to double-check, even if a system is terribly written, even if it's hackable, it gets detected. It's not magic pixie dust. We need this plus unhackable systems."
The team at Galois is certainly thrilled.
Excited to be working on ElectionGuard for @free_and_fair in collaboration with @Microsoft. I've been running the p… https://t.co/kNkn2WfqYC— Joey Dodds (@Joey Dodds) 1557158639.0
Just announced at Microsoft Build 2019: #ElectionGuard, an end-to-end verifiable elections SDK project that @kiniry… https://t.co/2XFPiQU0Pp— Daniel M. Zimmerman (@Daniel M. Zimmerman) 1557158433.0
And here are some words from some partners:
Columbia World Projects will partner with @Microsoft to pilot ElectionGuard technology, a free open-source software… https://t.co/i24YvGVURn— Columbia University (@Columbia University) 1557157141.0
We are partnering with Microsoft to develop #ElectionGuard, a software development kit for secure, end-to-end verif… https://t.co/9iHGFnOwrr— Free & Fair (@Free & Fair) 1557158718.0
As announced today, DARPA is partnering w/ @Microsoft & @galois to build & evaluate a verifiably secure voting syst… https://t.co/3jpu1ZGAm8— DARPA (@DARPA) 1557169356.0
Joe Hall, the chief technologist at the Center for Democracy and Technology, says the technology would grant voters "the ability to track the ballot as it goes through the entire process":
"Similar to what voters have with packages, or pizza, it will say this is at this facility, it has been counted... This will help voters track their votes; it's going to build in this audibility that's sort of the holy grail. But it's not going to reach the smaller jurisdictions that don't have the money to upgrade or have older equipment."
The news comes just days after President Donald Trump said he discussed the "Russia hoax" in a phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Asked whether he told Putin not to meddle in the next U.S. election after Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report found that "the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion," he only said:
""We didn't discuss that. We discussed five or six things. We went into great detail on various especially the nuclear––especially, maybe, Venezuela. We talked about North Korea at great length… we also discussed trade. We intend to do a lot of trade with Russia."
According to the Mueller report, the investigation "identified numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign" and the Trump campaign "expected it would benefit" from Russian interference.
Microsoft's initiative is a welcome one considering the failure to address election interference in Washington.
The Next Batch Of New Emojis Is All About Inclusion And Accessibility
All new emojis must be approved by the Unicode Consortium, which often receives submissions from companies like Apple and Google on what the next emojis should be. In a victory for the disabled and LGBTQ+ communities, the Consortium has announced 2019's new emojis will include many symbols centered around inclusion.
230 new emoji released in move to make characters more inclusive https://t.co/yQZpjcKplz https://t.co/Z5gt35EtTj— ITV News (@ITV News) 1549456458
NEW EMOJI: Next batch of emoji includes people with #disabilities, guide dog https://t.co/CX7LazZd0r What else wou… https://t.co/jkk47ladVe— Lane Luckie (@Lane Luckie) 1549450800
Apple requested last year that the list of emojis include more diverse, inclusive symbols.
Their request was definitely heard!
The Unicode Consortium has announced its final list of approved emoji for this year. The new batch of emoji include… https://t.co/Ex1QPg9wy4— Daniel Fleshbourne (@Daniel Fleshbourne) 1549442765
Other new emojis include a computer, a planet, and... AN OTTER!
New emojis approved in #emoji12 will come to operating systems (iOS, Android, Windows), apps (WhatsApp) and web pla… https://t.co/s0uvG1idMS— Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻 (@Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻) 1549397892
But the big ticket items among emoji lovers have definitely been the guide-dogs, deaf individuals, and non-binary couples.
✅ Approved in #emoji12: Guide Dog https://t.co/CmxJuQQ2dt https://t.co/iNJ3801EUF— Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻 (@Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻) 1549406419
✅ Approved in #emoji12: Man With Probing Cane https://t.co/07pUddbzeh https://t.co/xCDLIIeFQB— Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻 (@Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻) 1549409083
✅ Approved in #emoji12: Manual Wheelchair https://t.co/m5l7plNTzY https://t.co/2N1epGOKHv— Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻 (@Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻) 1549410936
✅ Approved in #emoji12: Ear With Hearing Aid https://t.co/JVWXvLpsat https://t.co/zRhowm9yj6— Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻 (@Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻) 1549414728
✅ Approved in #emoji12: Deaf Man https://t.co/UKgIdSdSar https://t.co/wgcx70xaTd— Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻 (@Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻) 1549417976
The new emojis feature non-binary couples with almost any mix of races.
✅ Approved in #emoji12: People Holding Hands. Gender neutral / gender inclusive, with mixed skin tone support… https://t.co/z3KjsYSh48— Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻 (@Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻) 1549424818
✅ Approved in #emoji12: Mixed Skin Tone Support for Men Holding Hands (👬) https://t.co/APoF9en9Em— Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻 (@Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻) 1549433936
✅ Approved in #emoji12: Mixed Skin Tone Support for Women Holding Hands (👭) https://t.co/fbcfKmAiPa— Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻 (@Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻) 1549432693
While these steps are definitely important, many Twitter users were most excited about a certain other emoji...
More excited than I should be about the incoming addition of this emoji. But more amazing news is that accessibili… https://t.co/ivNeefM6X5— Uma Kumaran (@Uma Kumaran) 1549457452
There are non-binary people represented in the 2019 emoji! Also wheelchair users, service dogs, and even more impor… https://t.co/k79YG2Nqou— Laurie Voss (@Laurie Voss) 1549423733
@seldo My non-binary service otter will be so pleased!— Marion Cotesworth-Haye (@Marion Cotesworth-Haye) 1549423859
@unicode Finally https://t.co/89vVEfVW9r— Lucy (@Lucy) 1549399341
In general, social media was glad to see a new, more inclusive set of emojis.
LOOK AT ALL THE NEW DISABILITY EMOJI!!!!! THIS IS GOOD! https://t.co/uEkVkNzOWo— Jamie-Leigh (@Jamie-Leigh) 1549447568
The new emojis should become available along with an upcoming software update. Congratulations to Apple and the Unicode Consortium for taking steps to improve disabled and LGBTQ+ representation!
People Share Their "How Did Our Ancestors Discover This Was Edible" Moments
It's one thing to be a foodie. It's another thing to put your life at risk because you're a little hungry and you want to be adventurous. How did our people learn what we could and could not consume? Who exactly discovered what seasonings paired perfectly with things? Who was the brave who learned for us that ketchup should always be on a fry? Deep thoughts friends. Deep thoughts.
Redditor u/maniacz2 had a really good life question we never really think about by asking.... What food has made you wonder, "How did our ancestors discover that this was edible?"