Imagine voting for your next mayor or president from a tablet or smartphone while sitting on your couch. A La Jolla company says they can make it happen and they’re using the Academy Awards as a perfect example.
“The Oscars are a really, really big thing. They make or break careers.They effect billions of dollars. So as much as the presidential is really important election-wise, so are the Oscars,” said Lorie Steele Contorer, CEO of Everyone Counts.
After 84 years of paper mail-in ballots, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences turned to Contorer's company four years ago with winning results.
"Our participation increases significantly when we use digital voting and it's a much better experience for the voter," said Contorer.
Everyone Counts brings state-of-the-art technologies to elections.
Already working at a limited capacity in public elections for overseas voters, the company is on the brink of getting federally certified, which would be a game changer.
The federal certification would allow states an opportunity to decide if they want to use the software program in November's general election.
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Benefits of a digital system would likely include increased participation and faster results, but is it secure?
Workers at Everyone Counts spent the last decade perfecting security to ensure their system is tamper proof, company executives said.
"Every ballot is digitally encrypted with military-grade encryption so it's the most secure voting system you can have," said Contorer. "It is proven, the security is there, and we will continue to raise the bar."
Passing security tests is one thing, but San Diego County's Registrar of Voters Michael Vu says getting public buy-in will be the biggest hurdle.
“It takes just a few people to raise a question," said Vu. “I don’t see it happening here anytime soon.”
With the Oscars and Emmys on board and public election push, Everyone Counts doubled in size from about 55 employees to 110 over the past year, but Vu’s prediction for San Diego is likely true due to the tight certification standards in California.
