Exclusive: Ex-Harris aide named CEO of Mobile Voting Project

The big picture: The Mobile Voting Project, founded by venture capitalist Bradley Tusk, backs legislative and grassroots efforts to make mobile phone voting an optional method in U.S. elections.

• The project has supported mobile voting pilots in several states in recent years, including West Virginia, Colorado and Washington, often focused on overseas and disabled voters.
• The group is currently active in five states — Colorado, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey and Vermont — as lawmakers consider legislation that would allow municipalities to offer mobile voting in local elections.
• Last year, the group released an open-source software development kit called VoteSecure, designed to serve as the cryptographic backbone for mobile voting applications.

What they're saying: "If we're going to try to make a difference and try to help make the political process less divisive, less toxic and really go back to the idea of having individual voters direct how their government serves them, this seems like a great project," Nix told Axios.

Yes, but: Election security researchers have long warned that internet-based voting — particularly on personal devices — carries unique risks, including malware on voters' phones and the difficulty of independently verifying that votes weren't altered.

• The organization argues that VoteSecure incorporates end-to-end verifiability, encryption and voter-verifiable paper records designed to allow independent auditing.
• The organization also made the project open-source to allow outside researchers to test and validate its security.
• Estonia has long been at the forefront of moving elections online, and a handful of other countries including Australia and Canada have piloted programs to let small numbers of voters — such as disabled people or far-flung overseas residents — vote from their phones.

Zoom in: Nix told Axios her early priorities include raising awareness around recent security advancements in mobile voting technology and supporting state-level legislative campaigns.

Catch up quick: During the second Obama administration, Nix served as chief of staff to then-Second Lady Jill Biden and as a deputy assistant to President Obama.

• Nix also was previously the president of Tusk Philanthropies and chief of staff at the Department of Education before joining Harris' team in 2023.

What to watch: Nix expects countering claims that mobile voting is insecure to be a central part of her role.

• "Now we're in a situation where there seems to be an effort to actually discourage people from participating by using their voices and their votes," Nix told Axios.

Go deeper: Why we're still not voting online, even in a pandemic