Ballot-counting equipment at the Philadelphia Convention Center in September. Photo by Bloomberg

Apple Rejects App for Verifying Pennsylvania Ballots

Photo: Ballot-counting equipment at the Philadelphia Convention Center in September. Photo by Bloomberg

Efforts to reject some ballots in battleground states like Pennsylvania could determine the outcome of next week’s election. But a mobile app designed to help ensure that Pennsylvania ballots are getting counted has already been rejected—by Apple.

After almost two weeks of holding up the release of the app, called Drive Turnout, Apple on Thursday told the developer behind it, Ari Steinberg, that the app violates the company’s privacy rules and that Apple won’t release it. It was a curious decision. Steinberg’s app relies on information that is publicly available on a Pennsylvania state website, which allows anyone with a voter’s name, date of birth and county of residence to verify that that voter’s ballot has been counted.

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