I have long held the perception that voting practice in my country, the US, could use some modernization. With voting machines in a handful of states, paper ballots in others, and a supremely unnecessary electoral college undercutting the public opinion (2000), it's a wonder to me that we haven't perused more direct web-based solutions. I know the security of an internet-based voting platform would undoubtedly be in question, but with the ghastly amount of money we pour into elections I think we could be capable of honestly and securely managing such a thing at eventual fractions of the current budget. What are your thoughts? Is such an idea possible/positive/practical?
For those outside of the US, how does your homeland handle these kinds of affairs?
Ticking a box on a piece of paper seems so stupid to me.
Any argument that can be made that hackers could change the outcome of a vote could also be used by anyone destroying/ changing/ creating false paper ballots. It also means that people are far less able to vote on issues that are important to them. If they could hold referendums on most heated subjects, open it up to mobile voting and actually have people decide what they want to do, that would be better in my opinion. It would be far closer to an actual democracy.
The problem with it, though, is that politicians want power. They want to be able to make decisions for people and then be able to say "well you voted for me, so it's not my fault entirely..." They won't be happy to lose that power.
Politicians should fight for ideas, in my ideal world. They shouldn't stand for an all-encompassing party, just because they agree with one or two of their ideas.
I dunno, my concept has a stupid number of flaws in it- so it's never going to happen.
But, I agree that paper voting is archaic.
i think the big arguement you will hear if voting was done by computer is "what if i dont have a computer?"
the id arguement about having to pay for something to vote, 24th amendment.... blah blah blah... i also think the ways we vote is outdated...
Does it matter? They get away with vote rigging already...
Who? The main parties?
Sounds like this idea would make voting a lot easier and more people would vote. Republicans would never allow this or they would never win a election again. Republicans stop any attempts to make voting easier. And now they are trying to make it harder with their voter ID laws.
I think voting electronically is not a good idea for two reasons;
- Its just too much risk for abuse, very hard to ensure this isn't abused
- Many people still dont own/use a computer (old and poor etc), so they would still need paper ballots anyway.
This adequately sums it up
It was proven that Jeb Bush (George Bush's brother and Governor of Florida) and Katherine Harris (Secretary of State and head of Bush's Florida campaign) deliberately had over 50,000 eligible voters (the vast majority of which were black and latino democrats) illegally removed from the electoral register, handing George Bush the Presidency by 537 votes. Some might call it a total coincidence, I call it vote rigging by a 'main party'. And only an idiot would assume this is was a one off scenario.
Any stories of such from Democrats? I know we could keep going on about Republican election fraud.
Why not computer or paper? Give the people a choice. It is possible to make sure the vote is secure we just have to make sure the right people are trusted.
I don't know that we can ever put it to "trusting" someone. Even the best of people can be corrupted with power. I don't like when we say it's a democrat or republican issue. While I realize that each side has differing opinions on the matter this is really an issue with our form of democracy in general. The need for an electoral college is out dated and undermines the opinions of the people. I don't know what the answer is although I worry about corruption through out. But I do know what we currently use is not working and the system needs to be streamlined and the same across the nation.
About 10 years ago Ireland brought in E-voting machines for a general election. They were hacked, of course. They were never used again. Sure, votes can still be rigged by paper ballots but not as easily. Also the e-voting machines cost the taxpayer a shitload as they were put in storage for years as the code was 'fixed' so they would be safer but they were never brought into use again.
I don't believe electronic voting is a good idea, especially not on the internet. There are too many disturbed people who would want to influence how their family members and other people vote. The privacy that is needed can better be provided at a polling station. There will probably never be a flawless system though.