Microsoft wants to make voting more trustworthy. This partnership will help

In late February 2020, Microsoft carried out the first official test of its ElectionGuard voting security software in an election in Fulton, Wisconsin, for the local school board and a state supreme court seat. Developed as part of the tech giant's "Defending Democracy" project, the software is designed to help make elections more secure and trustworthy.

Now, more than a year later, widespread distrust and discord surrounding the 2020 presidential election has helped to make the case for this kind of technology. "I don't think there's been a more important time in history for vendors to try building this technology into their systems because of its ability to build trust in the electoral process," Tom Burt, Microsoft's corporate vice president of customer security and trust, told CNN Business.