Enhanced Voting adds Ballot Tracking to its Service Offerings

Jacksonville, FL (July 20, 2023) – Enhanced Voting, a leading national provider of election technology solutions, is excited to announce that they have exclusively licensed Ballot Scout from Democracy Works to serve current and future ballot tracking customers.

“We are pleased to grow our technology solutions for state and local election officials and look forward to offering vote-by-mail ballot tracking. Enhanced Voting prioritizes security, accessibility, and transparency, and Democracy Works is the ideal organization to partner with to increase vote-by-mail ballot clarity,” said Aaron Wilson, founder and president of Enhanced Voting.

Designed in collaboration with election offices nationwide, Ballot Scout adds transparency, accountability, and confidence to the mail-in voting process by ensuring each vote is tracked and counted. Ballot Scout tracks mail-in ballots using USPS Intelligent Mail barcodes. The USPS scans these barcodes throughout each ballot’s journey, and shares updates with Ballot Scout along the way.

“Ballot Scout is a critical tool to ensure security and transparency through the vote-by-mail process,” said Luis Lozada, Democracy Works CEO. “We are excited to partner with Enhanced Voting to continue this important work alongside election officials as we continue to help Americans vote.”

Media Contact:
Jess Cone, Director of Government Relations
jess.cone@enhancedvoting.com | 518-928-1738

About Enhanced Voting (Web: EnhancedVoting.com | Twitter: @EnhancedVoting | LinkedIn: @Enhanced-Voting) 

Since 2013, Florida-based Enhanced Voting, founded by election technology and security expert Aaron Wilson, has worked with election officials throughout the United States to supply voting solutions that are secure, easy to use, and accessible to all. The company supports electronic ballot delivery for overseas military and civilians and fully accessible vote-by-mail for voters with disabilities. Enhanced Voting also supplies Enhanced Results, a comprehensive election results solution with Election Night Reporting (ENR), custom reports, state results aggregation, and blended systems aggregation. The company’s election technology solutions have been used in election jurisdictions throughout states, including Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah, and Virginia.

For more information, contact us: team@enhancedvoting.com

About Democracy Works (Web: BallotScout.org | Twitter: @demworksinc  | @DemocracyWorks

Democracy Works is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that builds technology and compiles elections data to simplify and modernize the voting process through collaboration with election officials, leading tech platforms and world-class partners. TurboVote, its flagship product, is an online tool that helps Americans through the voter registration process, check their registration, sign up for election reminders, and receive guidance on how to vote by mail, vote early, or cast a ballot in person. Democracy Works also helps millions of Americans find their election information through the Voting Information Project, a partnership with states in which election administrators receive, review, and approve data on where to vote and what’s on the ballot. Another Democracy Works tool, Ballot Scout, allows voters and election officials to track mail-in ballots, adding confidence and transparency to the vote-by-mail process. Democracy Works is committed to helping Americans vote by providing reliable, useful voting guidance through the sites, apps and groups they trust.

Nationally Recognized Election Security Expert Matt Bernhard joins Enhanced Voting as Director of Security

Jacksonville, FL (July 6, 2023) Enhanced Voting, a leading national provider of election technology solutions, has engaged Matt Bernhard, PhD, a widely acclaimed election security expert to serve as the company’s Director of Security and contribute to Enhanced Voting’s ongoing goal of bridging the gap between accessibility and security in election technology. Bernhard will manage Enhanced Voting’s organizational and product security efforts and lead several strategic initiatives.

“We are excited to have Matt join our team, and tremendously value his academic credentials, experience, and expertise”, said Aaron Wilson, founder and president of Enhanced Voting. “We share the same passion for applying the latest academic and industry research and analyses to election technology in a practical way that works well for voters and election officials.”

Bernhard has over a decade of experience working with election officials to provide technological solutions to their many challenges, most recently with VotingWorks, where he was a software contributor and the project manager for open-source risk-limiting audit software that has been used in over a dozen states. He was also responsible for architecting pieces of the company’s voting system security model and managing organizational security and compliance.

”I am excited by this opportunity to be part of the Enhanced Voting team and work with such a great group of technologists and election administration experts,” said Matt Bernhard. “I look forward to contributing to the company’s vision and commitment to election security.”

Bernhard earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Michigan, authoring his 2021 dissertation on election security theory and practice. Links to a some of Bernhard’s research can be found here:

Bernhard, Matt. (2021). Risk-limiting audits: A practical systematization of knowledge. https://mbernhard.com/papers/RLA_Threat_Model.pdf.

Bernhard, Matthew. (2020a). Election Security is Harder than You Think. Deep Blue Repositories. https://doi.org/ https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/163272/matber_1.pdf

Bernhard, M., McDonald, A., Meng, H., Hwa, J., Bajaj, N., Chang, K., & Halderman, J. A. (2020). Can voters detect malicious manipulation of ballot marking devices? 2020 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (SP). https://doi.org/10.1109/sp40000.2020.0011

About Enhanced Voting (Web: EnhancedVoting.com | Twitter: @EnhancedVoting | LinkedIn: @Enhanced-Voting) 

Since 2013, Florida-based Enhanced Voting, founded by election technology and security expert Aaron Wilson, has worked with election officials throughout the United States to supply voting solutions that are secure, easy to use, and accessible to all. The company supports electronic ballot delivery for overseas military and civilians and fully accessible vote-by-mail for voters with disabilities. Enhanced Voting also supplies Enhanced Results, a comprehensive election results solution with Election Night Reporting (ENR), custom reports, state results aggregation, and blended systems aggregation. The company’s election technology solutions have been used in election jurisdictions throughout states, including Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, and Virginia.

For more information, contact us: team@enhancedvoting.com.

Enhanced Voting and Microsoft Announce Collaboration to Improve Election Technology

Jacksonville, FL (August 30, 2022) – Today, Enhanced Voting and Microsoft announce a multi-faceted collaboration around the shared goal of secure and accessible elections.

Enhanced Voting and Microsoft’s Democracy Forward team collaborate on hosting Enhanced Voting’s technology in Microsoft Azure’s cloud environment. Azure delivers unparallel productivity and provides comprehensive, multi-layered security, including the largest compliance coverage of any cloud provider. In addition, Microsoft provides Enhanced Voting access to world-class cybersecurity services for proactive security assessments and cyber-incident support.

“We are grateful for Microsoft’s commitment to providing secure and accessible technologies and their willingness to work so closely with us to continuously improve voting solutions and support for election officials and voters,” said Aaron Wilson, President of Enhanced Voting.

Enhanced Voting and Microsoft are also collaborating on ElectionGuard, a software development kit developed by Microsoft to provide voters and the public with the added reassurance that votes are counted accurately.

“Microsoft is committed to advancing increased security and accessibility in elections, which is why we’re excited to partner with Enhanced Voting across multiple areas, including hosting on Azure and the implementation of ElectionGuard across their Enhanced Ballot and Enhanced Results solutions,” said Ginny Badanes, Sr. Director of Microsoft’s Democracy Forward program.

Enhanced Voting’s Wilson recently participated in an event at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, that showcased the ElectionGuard ecosystem and involved demonstrations from Enhanced Voting, other election technology providers, and leaders in the security and accessibility communities.

Enhanced Voting has agreed to be the first confirmation code lookup provider for Microsoft’s ElectionGuard. The confirmation code lookup process is critical to the assurances that ElectionGuard offers. After voting, each voter will receive a code they can use to check their ballot the next day. Enhanced Voting will also host the ElectionGuard election record. The public availability of the election record allows the public to run a verifier application that uses a mathematical equation after polls close to determine if votes have been manipulated. Because of the encryption process, the equation will produce the expected result if no votes are altered. If the answer is different, it will indicate that election officials should double-check the election results using backup paper ballots.

About Enhanced Voting (Web: EnhancedVoting.com | Twitter: @EnhancedVoting) 

Since 2013, Florida-based Enhanced Voting, founded by election technology and security expert Aaron Wilson, has worked with election officials throughout the United States to supply voting solutions that are secure, easy to use, and accessible to all. The company supports electronic ballot delivery for overseas military and civilians and fully accessible vote-by-mail for voters with disabilities. Enhanced Voting also supplies Enhanced Results, a comprehensive election results solution with Election Night Reporting (ENR), custom reports, state results aggregation and blended systems aggregation. The company’s state-of-the-art electronic ballot delivery and other election technology solutions have been used in election jurisdictions throughout states that include Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Virginia. For more information, contact us at team@enhancedvoting.com.

Enhanced Voting Acquires Assets of Five Cedars Group

Jacksonville, FL (Aug. 17, 2022) – Florida-based Enhanced Voting, a leading national provider of secure and accessible election technologies, has acquired the assets of Oregon-based Five Cedars Group, a leading West Coast supplier of remote balloting solutions. Five Cedars Group is a nationally recognized provider of accessible ballot solutions and pioneered accessible HTML ballot usage in the United States.

As announced today at the Oregon Association of County Clerks meeting in Pendleton, Oregon, both organizations are committed to a fully-supported and seamless transition for Five Cedars Group’s current customer base of 40 local election jurisdictions throughout Oregon and Hawaii.

“At Enhanced Voting, our mission is to provide the most secure, inclusive, and innovative solutions possible to our state and local customers so they can provide superior balloting options to their voters,” said Aaron Wilson, president of Enhanced Voting. “Acquiring Five Cedars’ technology and contracts helps fulfill our mission by expanding our product portfolio and customer base,” said Wilson. “I am especially grateful to John for staying on and sharing his vast expertise with us.”

The Five Cedars Group, founded in 1993 in Portland, Oregon, by John Schmitt, developed a fully accessible ballot in 2007 called the Alternate Format Ballot (AFB) by working collaboratively with state and local election officials in Oregon. The AFB was first used by Oregon voters with disabilities in 2008. Since then, local election jurisdictions throughout Oregon and Hawaii have successfully used AFB for voters with disabilities and military and overseas voters. Additionally, the AFB is currently certified for use throughout California and Ohio.

“Enhanced Voting is a transformative leader in electronic ballot delivery for overseas military and civilians and fully accessible vote-by-mail for voters with disabilities,” said John Schmitt, president of Five Cedars Group. “I could not have found a better group of election technology experts and people than Enhanced Voting to carry on our company’s legacy. With my pending retirement next year, they will support our wonderful clients in Oregon and Hawaii with expanded solution offerings,” said Schmitt.

Terms of the acquisition of assets are not being disclosed. For more information, contact Enhanced Voting at team@enhancedvoting.com.

About Enhanced Voting (Web: EnhancedVoting.com | Twitter: @EnhancedVoting) 

Since 2013, Florida-based Enhanced Voting, founded by election technology and security expert Aaron Wilson, has worked with election officials throughout the United States to supply voting solutions that are secure, easy to use, and accessible to all. The company supports electronic ballot delivery for overseas military and civilians and fully accessible vote-by-mail for voters with disabilities. The company’s state-of-the-art electronic ballot delivery and other election technology solutions have been used in election jurisdictions throughout states that include Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Virginia.

Over Half of Florida Counties Select Enhanced Voting’s Accessible Electronic Ballot Delivery Solution

Enhanced Voting to provide a secure and accessible vote-by-mail option for Florida voters with disabilities and military and overseas voters

Jacksonville, FL (May 24, 2022) – The chief election officials in 37 of Florida’s 67 counties, have selected Florida-based Enhanced Voting’s Enhanced Ballot to support their voters with disabilities and U.S. military and overseas citizens, making Enhanced Voting the state’s largest provider of accessible electronic ballot delivery solutions.

“We’re proud to support state and local election officials in providing accessibility to all voters,” said Aaron Wilson, president of Enhanced Voting. “We’re especially proud to be the leading provider of these technologies in our company’s home state of Florida.”  

Enhanced Voting currently serves the following 37 Florida counties with its Enhanced Ballot solution:

Bradford, Brevard, Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Columbia, DeSoto, Flagler, Glades, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Holmes, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lee, Leon,Liberty, Madison, Marion, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Osceola, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, St. Johns, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, and Walton.

Through Enhanced Ballot, a voter with disabilities can mark and print their electronic ballot, with or without assistive technology, before returning it in person or by mail per Florida election law. Military and overseas voters may additionally return their ballots to their county election office via fax. 

“We like the innovative technology that Enhanced Voting is bringing to the state of Florida,” said Wesley Wilcox, Supervisor of Elections in Marion County. “We look forward to using their secure solutions and working with their expert team,” said Wilcox, who is the current president of the Florida Supervisors of Elections, a nonprofit association representing the supervisors of elections from Florida’s 67 counties.

“Our staff is excited to have another option in the State of Florida to better serve our voters with disabilities and our military and overseas voters,” said St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections Vicky Oakes.

“Enhanced Voting is home to election security experts, and we are committed to championing election official customers through innovation,” said Wilson. “Our partnership and integration with VR Systems, the leading provider of voter registration and electronic pollbooks in Florida, supports our shared goal of maintaining the integrity of elections while improving voters’ access to the democratic process.”

About Enhanced Voting (Web: EnhancedVoting.com | Twitter: @EnhancedVoting) 

Since 2013, Florida-based Enhanced Voting, founded by election technology and security expert Aaron Wilson, has worked with election officials throughout the United States to supply voting solutions that are secure, easy to use, and accessible to all. The company supports electronic ballot delivery for overseas military and civilians and fully accessible vote-by-mail for voters with disabilities. The company’s state-of-the-art electronic ballot delivery and other election technology solutions have been used in election jurisdictions throughout states that include Florida, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Virginia. For more information, contact us at team@enhancedvoting.com.

Jess Cone Joins Election Technology Provider Enhanced Voting

Former Program Manager of the Center for Internet Security’s Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center to Serve as Enhanced Voting’s Director of Government Relations

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Feb. 2, 2022) – Jess Cone has joined Enhanced Voting, a leading national provider of election technology solutions, per the company’s announcement today. Jess is serving as the company’s director of government relations.

Jess comes to Enhanced Voting from the New York-based Center for Internet Security (CIS), where she served for several years, most recently as program manager for CIS’ Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC). In this role, Jess worked with state and local election officials throughout the country to provide them with access to CIS’ elections-focused cyber defense solutions suite and tools for implementing security best practices.

“We’re fortunate to have Jess join the Enhanced Voting team as we serve our growing client base of states and local election jurisdictions using our electronic ballot delivery solutions and other technologies during this 2022 election cycle,” said Aaron Wilson, CEO of Enhanced Voting. “Jess’ ability to understand and deliver on clients’ complex technical needs is second to none, and she brings passion, drive, and a unique set of skills to her work. I look forward to our current and future Enhanced Voting clients having the opportunity to work with Jess to enhance and expand their voting options,” he added.

Jess is an experienced manager with a demonstrated history of success in the technology and network security industry, serving as a trust and safety agent for Etsy prior to joining CIS. She is additionally skilled in business development, relationship management, and management of nonprofit organizations, previously serving as art exhibition coordinator for the Albany Public Library Foundation. Jess is currently earning a Master of Business Administration degree from Niagara University and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York at Albany. Additionally, Jess holds Global Information Assurance Certifications (GIAC) in Security Leadership and Information Security Fundamentals.

“I’m excited to begin this next phase of my career in election technology, continuing to work with the incredible state and local election officials across our nation and introducing them to Enhanced Voting,” said Jess Cone, director of government relations for Enhanced Voting.

About Enhanced Voting (Web: EnhancedVoting.com | Twitter: @EnhancedVoting)
Since 2013, Florida-based Enhanced Voting has worked with election officials throughout the United States to supply voting solutions that are secure, easy-to-use, and accessible to all. The company supports electronic ballot delivery for overseas military and civilians and fully accessible vote-by-mail for voters with disabilities. The company’s state-of-the-art electronic ballot delivery and other election technology solutions are used in election jurisdictions throughout Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Virginia.

For more information, contact us at team@enhancedvoting.com.