Willem de Ruiter
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Object of the future: Online voting
Election outcomes never represent the opinion of all citizens in a country. In most countries, 70% of the people vote when there is an election, in the US it’s between 50% and 60%. Is that really a democracy? Currently the development of online voting (also called internet voting) is changing the traditional way of voting. Online voting is easier, faster and it improves our democracy.
If the online polling systems are well managed and designed, it is almost a certainty that there will be a better turnout because the existence of more voting channels will be used by some citizens.
Below some of the disadvantages. An online voting system that is carried out without controlled polling stations may endanger the freedom of vote of many citizens since each voter need to use a password - or something similar - that can be stolen or bought. The risk of the so-called family vote or the existence of coercions among employers and employees should be taken into account.
The traditional electoral system does not require any specific skill and therefore it is open to any citizen, even those completely illiterate. These new tools offer a different landscape and, taking into account the current sociological data about ICT uses, even in the most developed countries, it seems not convenient to propose a total replacement of traditional polls or surveys by these online features.
Furthermore, there is a great diference between an electronic polling system and the traditional one with opaque envelopes and transparent urns. Both elements provide themselves enough confidence to the citizen about the secret of his/her vote. They can also guarantee that no vote will be excluded from the tally.
On the other hand, an electronic system is not understandable for an average citizen and even a computer expert needs some elements, such as the source code, to offer a serious opinion. Therefore, these systems need complmmentary control measures like, for instance, a paper trail, the audit of the source code, and an independent electoral board.
Security is an obvious danger that should be taken into account. The traditional system has also security challenges, but they are more serious with electronic mechanisms.
Currently, there are experiments with online voting. The Pentagon has canceled plans to allow military personnel to vote online in the November 2004 presidential elections. It was done in view of the inability to ensure the legitimacy of votes that would be cast using this program.
But it's only a matter of time. When online voting will be totally safe, it will become popular.
References
- http://www.verifiedvoting.org
- http://www.ss.ca.gov/executive/ivote/
- http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0204/020504d2.htm
