Microsoft offers free election security software

Microsoft on Monday said it will soon offer free software to help make voting more secure in the U.S. and elsewhere.

The ElectionGuard tool, which will be available this summer to election officials and election technology suppliers through GitHub, aims to build voting systems with enhanced security through new encryption techniques. The program would also enable election audits and let both voters and third-party organizations verify the results.

When? Microsoft said “early prototypes” will be ready for pilot programs during the 2020 elections in the U.S. The tech giant added that it is prepared for “significant deployments” of the tool in future elections.

Microsoft is partnering with election tech companies — Democracy Live, BPro, MicroVote, Voting Works, Election Systems & Software and Hart InterCivic — to integrate the ElectionGuard tool into their systems.