Electronic Voting

i saw this article: http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/biztech....ap/index.html and i got to thinking.....

#1 - just how safe is the idea of electronic internet voting? i mean the idea is an interesting one, but how long till we would have an election where someone that the news will deem a hacker takes it upon him or herself to impose his feelings on who should win the current election.

#2 - how good of an idea is electronic voting. i mean, the current system does have it's benefits. it does weed out all the lazy people. if one is too lazy to go to the polling place then that person is most likely too lazy to have spent any time trying to understand the issues and would probably vote based on quality of hair and political party affiliation. this is not to say that most of the voters who make it to the polling place are well informed or have any better methods of picking a candidate. i figure i could throw a dart at a board to pick who i vote for and be just as informed about the person i picked as 60% of the voting populace (60% is actually a low estimate, but one of my new years resolutions is to be a little more optimistic.) but with electronic voting any idiot who can dial up the internet (and there are plenty of them) can vote. i understand that this is the idea of democracy, but when this idea was founded people were informed and actually cared about the fate of the nation and not wo had a better personality or "seemed to know what they were talking about." i can see it now.... a couple aol users voting on there lunch break who never heard of the candidates... or even better, some guy voting after shooting back his 5th scotch on the rocks, cause he can be drunk and vote since he never has to leave the house. and think even harder... do we really want people who picked aol as there isp picking who should run the country. but seriously.... the idea of democracy was a good one, but i think the sysem has become flawed as people started to care less. i think internet voting is going to just amplify a problem that is already existing. it will make voting even more random and hap hazard then it already is. and it won't really eliminate the idea of recounts and such. also... don't even get me started on if electronic voting becomes the standard over all... (ie polling places will just have computers set up for the people to vote on.) senior citizen's had enough time with old technology. (take florida for example) and if anyone here has ever seen a senior try to slide his or her debit card in one of the checkout card readers know that old people (as well as alot of younger ones) are going to hard times with the new technology.

being lazy does not mean you loose your vote. i really haven't given it much thought as i dosn't matter much to me either way. i vote IRT my gf works at the polls.

it just might be that those that CAN vote on line would be better informed on the issues than those that dont. when you have people that can't even find a search engine i dont think we need to worry much about them voting on line. they'll go to the poles and someone will lead them threw the process. ive miss a few things, even an election or two, because i couldn't drag myself off the computer in time that dosn't make me lazy just addicted. like right now. im at work. every one else has gone home, i could leave too but i have such a nice computer here and a T-1 all to myself. if today was election day instead of new years eve id have it made.

i do see your point, but it doesn't help that most people coiuld care less about issues or looking into any part of information about a candidate and just vote based on ridiculous things. with internet voting i see a future where more people who don't care are going to vote cause it's easy. not to say that all voters are uninformed or only uninformed people vote but even if only 60% of all the people vote are uninformed, that makes for a pretty randomly decided president. flipping a coin would have the same effect, and i don't like the thought of that deciding who the leader of america is. i also see with internet voting the birth of politcal banner ads and pop ups and the like... which would be similar to the tv ads, uninformative and generally just mudslinging. at least right now the internet is free of that. i just think that it is a bad idea. i also still contend it is unsafe based on the idea that there are going to be people who can negotiate the system and influence the way the voting turns...

perhaps your right about how it will be. i cant say i like the way many things are going including the internet but i guess im in the minority and i do believe in democracy. although i dont think you'll see any MORE system manipulation online than there is now IRT it will just give us more things to watch out for....hmmm! perhaps your right again, maybe we should stick to one system at least until we get that one right.

While I agree that people who don't care to take note of issues and who would vote based on frivolous information would line up and possibly make an even greater mockery of our democratic process. The flip side is more people will get involved and NOT take their freedom for granted. People have lost touch with the reality of this planet and don't take care or concern that we are in fact a minority in this process. Meaning, there are more people on this planet that cannot vote than can.

But then it scares me that people who barely comprehend reality have input on my future. So imagine, you’re (hypothetical “you’re”) surfing the latest gossip and reading about how it’s your day and how not to make confrontations today since the planet is not in your alignment or you need to go do that thing you have been putting off because today is the right day and BAM: a pop up comes up "Have you voted today?" which redirects you to a biased gateway into the system that distorts your view and since you were bored anyway you cast your vote... click click click click click click... done. A little counter comes up and you see that you are behind the other people so you send off an email to “rally” your friends against a cause you are losing and it makes you mad because you read that “today is your day” and if you are losing it can’t be your day.

The fact that you have to go find a polling place and physically touch a controlled screen or chad or in my case pencil in a circle and read the actual bill is a deterrent against click click click click. Also the fact that you have to be present and show an ID and are checked off the list makes sure that people vote in the correct areas and for the correct issues. That is a good thing. I am down with any kind of internet voting on something as crucial to our futures as voting citizens. Call me old fashioned. Most of the people with radical views DO NOT vote. That is also a good thing.