Mississippians will be able to use their mobile IDs as valid proof of identity when casting their ballots in November’s state elections.
The state’s mobile driver’s license system was developed by IDEMIA in partnership with the Mississippi Department of Safety (DPS), and launched last year. Residents who are interested in the MDL can sign up when they receive their physical driver’s licenses, essentially enabling the creation of a virtual duplicate of their physical ID.
Speaking to the local outlet WLBT-TV, Mississippi Department of Public Safety Deputy Commissioner Keith Davis said that about 100,000 people have downloaded the app, which is available for both Android and iOS, and that over 51,000 have signed up for the digital driver’s license.
Those residents are about to get the chance to participate in one of the most high-profile tests of mobile ID technology, with state officials preparing to accept the digital driver’s licenses as official ID in midterm elections, even as politicians raise the specter of voter fraud as a profound threat to democracy in America.
For its part, Mississippi’s MDL app is backed by mobile-based biometric authentication via fingerprint or face scan, which could help to assuage concerns about potential attempts to fraudulently use mobile driver’s licenses at the polls.
The use of biometric authentication is something that Mississippi’s mobile ID app has in common with Apple’s, which has gone live in Arizona and Maryland. And another commonality is coming: the DPS Deputy Commissioner also told WLBT-TV that his agency is working with IDEMIA, other state governments, and the Transportation Security Administration to accept Mississippi’s mobile ID as valid ID at airports, though he did not offer a timeframe for when such functionality might arrive.
Source: AP News
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