By: Angelo Andoyo Newly-elected Secretary of State Zachary Payne has a bold vision for an app to be used for voting in future Boys State elections. Secretary of State Zachary Payne witnessed the need for modernization in the Boys State voting process while he was running for office. While he wishes to pay all due respect to the IT staff, Payne simply feels that the utilization of an app for voting and simulation related uses would be incredibly effective in helping the process to go more smoothly and give the IT guys a break from the constant password resets, login blocking, and website timeouts. While this Secretary of State has made the streamlining of the voting process one of his main areas of focus, Pumposh Bhat, an IT Staff Counselor, has been pushing for the integration of an app for over four years. Bhat, a Stater in 2014, began volunteering for Boys State with the idea of making some tweaks to the voting process. He points to the complexity of the backend framework for the app, time, and the fact that IT is made up of volunteers as potential roadblocks, but he also emphasized his willingness, belief in the idea, and Boys State volunteers with connections to companies with database servers like Microsoft as signs of hope. Boys State is a week jam-packed with activities with little room for straying off the schedule. Maybe it’s time to modernize the voting process to ensure the week goes smoothly and efficiently for Boys Staters as well as for the IT staff.]]>
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