Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Online Voting

Click on pic
Neighbouring Burlington is introducing online voting (see link to their page here) 


On the surface, some may argue that this is a great idea and a natural progression;- one that might increase voter participation. Others might argue that it is fraught with problems including being able to guard against hacking, system crashes and voter fraud.


Do you think this idea's time has come? Is Burlington one step ahead of us, or venturing into troubled water?


Thanks to J.W. for this topic idea. 

2 comments:

  1. As someone who works in IT, I just have to say that is is a truly terrible idea. Yes it may increase voting rates but when stand-alone electronic voting machines can't even be secured properly what hope does a web driven voting app? The current method may be cumbersome (and there are probably ways it could be improved) but it is the most secure and reliable system we have.

    You can't hack a pencil and paper!

    ReplyDelete

  2. I agree with the above critic but there are compelling reasons to pursue the idea, not the least of which is giving me another chance to promote Athenian Democratic systems as a way out of the mess we are in. The article in Wikipedia is quite enlightening (and entertaining). Online voting AND voting machines *must* be prohibited during any election of PEOPLE. But having an online system to decide on some issues might be both practical and as secure as the online banking which is done by millions. Athens used to send slaves to round up citizens from the market to ensure a quorum was achieved. Citizens smudged by ink on the slaves' rope were fined for tardiness. I love the rope idea but online is easier, no?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenian_democracy

    ReplyDelete

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