Tusk Philanthropies is a nonprofit organization primarily focused on advocating anti-hunger campaigns and mobile voting initiatives. 1 Founded by philanthropist Bradley Tusk, the organization proposed a Mobile Voting Project, a digital application venture that would permanently allow voting to be carried out online via phones and computers within the Washington D.C area. “D.C. will be a pioneer for opening this up for all eligible voters. It would be the first in the nation to do that for D.C. elections,” 2 according to Jocelyn Bucaro, a former Denver-based election official and head of Tusk’s voting project. 3
In early 2022, DC city council member Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) proposed a bill that would support Tusk’s mobile voting project by expanding mobile voting measures for District residents. However, the bill failed to move forward to a vote in April 2022 citing “”numerous elections and cybersecurity experts, as well as residents, with serious concerns” about mobile voting bills.” 4 According to emails obtained through a D.C Freedom of Information Act request, Pinto was assisted in creating her bill by Max Brown, a D.C lobbyist and chairman of lobbying firm Group 360 who was also being paid $10,000 monthly by Tusk Philanthropies to “advance mobile voting in DC.” 5 6
References
- Tusk Philanthropies. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://tuskphilanthropies.org/
- Austermuhle, Martin. “There’s A New Push To Let D.C. Voters Cast Ballots From Their Phones.” DCList, December 2, 2021. https://dcist.com/story/21/12/02/theres-a-new-push-to-let-dc-voters-cast-ballots-from-their-phones/
- Austermuhle, Martin. “There’s A New Push To Let D.C. Voters Cast Ballots From Their Phones.” DCList, December 2, 2021. https://dcist.com/story/21/12/02/theres-a-new-push-to-let-dc-voters-cast-ballots-from-their-phones/
- Marks, Joseph and Aaron Schaffer. “D.C. won’t move forward with a mobile voting measure.” Washington Post, April 13, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/04/13/dc-wont-move-forward-with-mobile-voting-measure/
- Marks, Joseph and Aaron Schaffer. “D.C. won’t move forward with a mobile voting measure.” Washington Post, April 13, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/04/13/dc-wont-move-forward-with-mobile-voting-measure/
- Marks, Joseph and Aaron Schaffer. “A top online voting company is ramping up its cyber vetting.” Washington Post, May 4, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/04/top-online-voting-company-is-ramping-up-its-cyber-vetting/