Podcast Summary: "We use our smartphones for just about everything – why not voting?"

Podcast: Consider This from NPR
Host: Miles Parks
Episode Date: December 21, 2025
Featured Guest: Bradley Tusk, founder of the Mobile Voting Project

Episode Overview

In this episode, NPR’s Miles Parks explores the provocative question: If we bank, shop, and work on our smartphones, why not vote on them too? The episode dives into the debate around mobile voting, featuring Bradley Tusk, a venture capitalist and political strategist spearheading the Mobile Voting Project. The conversation examines the promise and pitfalls of online voting in a political climate marred by polarization and skepticism over election security.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Enduring Case for Paper Ballots (00:00–01:47)

• Paper ballots are seen as the gold standard for election security. Both President Trump and leading election officials, like Bill Gardner (New Hampshire's former Secretary of State), stress their invulnerability to hacking.
  • Bill Gardner: “See this pencil here? … This is how people vote in this state and you can't hack this pencil.” (00:32)
• Paper ballots enable transparent recounts.

The Problem: Low Voter Turnout Drives Polarization (01:47–05:04)

• Primary election turnout is dismally low; only about 10% of eligible voters participate.
• Bradley Tusk argues this empowers ideological extremes and special interests, making compromise in government nearly impossible.
  • Bradley Tusk: “If turnout were 30 or 40% in a primary instead of 10, that is so much more representative of the mainstream … the underlying political incentives for our elected officials shift towards working together and getting things done.” (04:16)

The Mobile Voting Project’s Proposal (03:23–06:38)

• Mobile voting aims to increase turnout by making it as easy as possible—accessible from wherever voters are, just like banking or healthcare on smartphones.
• Tusk has invested over $20 million of his own money (06:42) and stresses the project is philanthropic, not for profit.
• It would supplement—not replace—other voting methods: “Mobile voting is not meant to replace any form of voting. We should just have every form available.” (06:54)

Public Attitudes Toward Internet Voting (05:04–06:38)

• Surveys reveal broad support—if the technology is secure:
  • Before 2020: 75% of Americans, across party lines, supported secure mobile voting.
  • Post-2020: Support among Republicans dropped to the 40s, due to “Trump falsely arguing that he was … [that] the election was stolen from him.” (05:27)
• Certain groups show heightened interest: rural voters, military, people with disabilities, Gen Z, and civil rights organizations.

The Mobile Voting System: Security Measures Explained (07:09–08:48)

• Authentication steps:
  • Voters download an official app, input Social Security and address for initial verification.
  • Multi-factor authentication and biometric face scan verify actual identity.
  • Tusk: "The ballot appears on my screen … my ballot is encrypted, it’s anonymized, and I get a tracking code." (07:53)
• Ballot security:
  • After submission, ballots are encrypted, anonymized, and assigned a tracking code.
  • Ballots are transferred, then air-gapped—taken offline—and a paper copy is printed for official tabulation, ensuring a physical audit trail.
• Voters can track their ballots step by step.

Expert Skepticism: Is Mobile Voting Actually Secure? (08:48–11:58)

• Miles Parks brings in the perspective of Andrew Appel (Princeton), co-author of a 2018 National Academies report.
  • Appel: "As of 2018, Internet voting was not securable by any currently known technology … It's still true in 2025." (09:33)
• Tusk’s rebuttals:
  • Ballot verification: Voters can review a PDF of their ballot on another device using a code.
  • Dispute resolution: Left to each jurisdiction—localities can adapt the system to local rules.
  • Malware risk: Real but comparable to existing flaws in in-person and mail voting. "To say that you need this absolute standard of perfection for mobile voting, when the real ways that we vote today are far below that, doesn’t make sense." (11:08)
• Advocates for pilot programs: Let cities voluntarily try mobile voting in local elections and see what works before scaling up.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Miles Parks: “Is a country full of election skeptics actually ready for Internet voting?” (01:38)
• Bradley Tusk: “The only way to change and end the polarization is to have meaningfully higher turnout. And the only way to do that is to bring voting to where the people are and where they live their lives. And that's on their phones.” (01:00)
• Bill Gardner (on paper ballots): “See this pencil here? … You can't hack this pencil.” (00:32)
• Andrew Appel (on security): "It's still true in 2025 that there's no currently known technology that will do it." (09:44)
• Bradley Tusk: “If you don't do something and you just sit here and explain why nothing can ever work and nothing can ever change, you are throwing in the towel on this country completely. And I'm not willing to do that.” (11:45)

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment Summary | |-----------|------------------------------------------------| | 00:00–01:47 | The case for paper ballots; election security basics | | 01:47–05:04 | Polarization, low turnout, and the core political problem | | 03:23–06:38 | Tusk introduces mobile voting vision and polling data | | 06:38–07:09 | Project’s funding and core principle: addition, not replacement | | 07:09–08:48 | Deep dive on the mobile voting authentication process | | 08:48–09:44 | Security critique from Princeton’s Andrew Appel | | 09:44–11:58 | Tusk’s detailed counterarguments and call for pilot trials |

Overall Tone and Takeaways

• The discussion is frank and sometimes pointed, with Tusk’s optimism and urgency contrasted by the cautious, evidence-based skepticism of academia.
• The episode delivers a nuanced look at the promise versus peril of internet voting in today's hyper-polarized and security-conscious political climate.
• While acknowledging real and serious risks, Tusk and his allies argue that controlled, incremental adoption—starting with local pilots—could nudge U.S. democracy into a more inclusive and functional future.

This summary captures the essential themes, arguments, and notable moments of the podcast episode for listeners and non-listeners alike.