Geoff Duncan

I've always thought King County Elections did a pretty good job, and was interested that the April 22 election (one issue, a levy to continue funding AFIS) contained a new feature enabling voters to verify their ballot online, instead of signing the outside of the ballot envelope and senting that in plain view through the mail/in a drop-box. (Washington is an entirely vote-by-mail state.) With rampant mail theft and identify fraud, that always seemed less-than-great.

It uses a service called OmniBallot (www.democaracylive.com) that's apparently been around for a while. So I thought I'd give it a shot.

Readers, you will be shocked to know that despite having been a registered voter in King County for most of my adult life, OmniBallot has no record of me refuses to proceed with verifying my ballot.

#kingcountyelections #omniballot #seattle

Apr 20, 2025 at 5:32pmWeb
Show threadGeoff DuncanApr 21, 2025

So, it looks like this failure is because OmniBallot relies on fonts, captcha, and polyfill services from Google.

So, you know: verifying your ballot sends telemetry to the world's largest digital advertising platform. I'm sure nothing could go wrong.

Show thread~/DavidApr 20, 2025
@geoffduncan I noticed that on mine and didn’t even bother. It doesn’t surprise me at all that was the result.
Show threadGeoff DuncanApr 20, 2025

@davidmorford
Me either. And I realize it's not a simple system to build, maintain, and secure from fraud and abuse. I just always seem to be the canary in the coal mine for these things: if it's going to fail simply trying to follow the "happy path," it'll be with me.

Which, honestly, is a superpower in some contexts! :)

Show thread~/DavidApr 20, 2025
@geoffduncan Heh. I get that! My concern with these things is the disclosure of PII. I had to show ID before a job interview recently. That was decidedly disturbing.
Show threadGeoff DuncanApr 20, 2025
@davidmorford
I agree. I’ve long disliked the “signatures in the open in the mail” aspect of Washington’s vote-by-mail setup. I think I know WHY it’s that way, but given the volume of mail theft I experience (and associated identity fraud attempts) I’m open to improvements, or at least options.
Show threadAwk & shaApr 20, 2025
@geoffduncan @davidmorford the most ironic thing about this is their HQ is here in Seattle, so…you’d think they’d get it right for King County!
Show threadGeoff DuncanApr 20, 2025
@mmcknett @davidmorford
I noticed that. It’s not impossible I know some of the people involved: I’ll ask around.