Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the state secretary shall, pursuant to this act, establish a pilot program to provide for convenient voting for military personnel, their families and civilians stationed or working abroad who are allowed to register and vote under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), P.L. 99-410.

The pilot program shall provide for the use of smart phones to improve voter engagement and the convenience and security of voting. The state secretary shall provide for a pilot program for integration with the state voters registration system, by a metrically secure authentication, electronic ballot delivery to smart phones, an intuitive voting experience that requires no voter training, the secure return of voted ballots in the redundant, immutable storage of ballots on a block chain infrastructure and an easy way to tabulate and consolidate the results.

To accomplish the purposes of this act, the pilot program shall include not less than 100 UOCAVA voters by the use of smart phones for voting, which shall be conducted during the presidential primary and general elections of 2020.

The pilot program shall include: (i) independent security evaluation and post-election audits; (ii) block chain infrastructure; (iii) the ability to spoil ballot, whereby a second ballot could be issued to a voter and only the voter’s last ballot would be counted; and (iv) automatic preparation of tabulatable ballots that can provide for automatically printed ballots, which can be inserted directly into a ballot tabulating machine. The state secretary shall partner with a company that has demonstrated security and capacity to deliver the requirements of the pilot program.

There is hereby established a special commission on the status of Massachusetts’ active duty service members participating in elections while abroad: for the purpose of making an investigation and study relative to such participation and the pilot program established by this act. The special commission shall consist of 7 members: 2 members of the senate, 1 of whom shall be the co-chair of the joint committee on elections; 2 members of the house of representatives, 1 of whom shall be the co-chair of the joint committee on elections; the state secretary; the adjutant general of the Massachusetts national guard; and the executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, Inc.

The commission shall report to the general court the results of its investigation and study and its recommendations, if any, together with drafts of legislation necessary to carry its recommendations into effect, by filing the same with the clerk of the senate and the clerk of the house of representatives.