This week in class Aaron Smith explored the role that technology plays in politics. We spent a significant time discussing the role of Facebook in today's political atmosphere. From personal experience, I do not believe political discussion often takes place in social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter; in fact, I believe that bringing important issues into these spheres almost simplifies the complexity of such issues. However, this could change with the upcoming election; since 2008 (the last presidential election) Facebook has exploded in its prominence and has infiltrated all aspects of society. As TV becomes more obsolete in society, it will be interesting to see how the presidential candidates in the 2012 election use Facebook to assist their campaigns and bring in the vote for the younger population.
What I found most interesting about the discussion is how much it has contrasted with the other topics we have discussed in our course. Unlike science, journalism and education which have openly embraced technology (it can be argued there's an issue of 'too much of a good thing'), in the sphere of politics, technology is approached and used with hesitance and caution. In today's world, politicians run a candidate-based campaign, where their policies and ideas play a secondary role to their overall self-image. Candidates sell themselves, and thus would prefer blemish-free pasts. The Internet however never forgets and thus old pictures from "the college years" are bound to surface for future politicians where they are snapped drinking, smoking and the like. This will likely change the political game in the years to come.
The most interesting lag though with respect to voting is the opportunity to use online voting to cast our votes. The 26th Amendment states "The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age." Online voting would make the process more time-efficient for constituents, more accessible and would likely increase total voter turn-out. The technology is ready and available so why hasn't it been implemented? Nick Handy, Washington state's elections director explains "The hang-up is acceptance by voters. There's a tremendous distrust of anything electronic, and we've got really strong advocacy groups who really want to vote on a piece of paper."
American is deeply rooted in tradition and little initiative has been taken to make online voting available to voters although the advantages appear numerous. The first, is the potential increase of voter turn-out. The number of hours spent online by American individuals continues to increase. The possibility of streamlining the entire voting process (from registration, to information on candidates, to actual voting) could pull in votes from individuals who otherwise would not have taken the time to cast their ballots. Furthermore, if candidates and political strategists send out e-mail reminders on Voting Day that link them directly to where to cast their ballots the whole process could become revolutionized. Early evidence from Australia suggest that online voting drastically increases turnout. In 2007, only 22% of Australian soldiers' ballots were counted, but when a new Internet voting option was introduced, that figure increased to 75%. America is rooted in the notion that every person's voice should be heard, yet little initiative has been taken to use the Internet that could make it even more accessible to everyone.
Another potential advantage of online voting is saving state's money in the long-term sense, a huge benefit currently as our nation's deficit continues to increase at an alarming rate. One statistic reports that Oregon spent $8.2 million on the 2008 primary and general elections. Most of these costs were for printing and postage as Oregon conducts its elections entirely by mail. Switching to online voting could both save the environment (yay!) and save each states millions of dollars which could be better allocated for more pressing needs.
Although it appears advantageous to switch over to a more technologically-driven voting process, there are reasons that such initiatives have not been taken more seriously in the United States. First off, the voting process is truly not that difficult for the majority of voters. Voting ballots are often available in many locations; if one truly cares enough about the issues at hand, the citizen will find the time to go to a voting ballot and cast his or her vote. It may become problematic to make voting accessible via the Internet as there becomes little time commitment to cast a vote; although voting turnout will increase, these votes could come from uneducated individuals, or individuals who don't take these decisions seriously. This becomes most apparent in state and local elections where individuals vote on propositions and acts that could truly affect their daily lives. Voter turn-out is extremely low in such elections because only the people who are truly invested with the issues at hand will take the time out of their busy schedules to vote.
Another issue that arises is accuracy and security online. If this initiative is truly taken forward, serious security measures needs to be taken so that the process ensures that the individual who claims to be voting is the one actually casting the vote. Furthermore, the possibility of results being hacked and altered arises, but these issues can only be addressed once enacted, and seeing how the process pans out in 'the real world'.
So how can we go about essentially 'test-running' online practices? I believe a good place to start is with military abroad. These men and women are risking their lives on a daily basis to protect their country and yet often times their votes are not counted or heard as a result of time delays on absentee ballots. Taking small steps to ensure that fraud does not occur seems like the most logical approach. Currently, most states are taking a wait-and-see approach; no one wants to be the first to preside over an e-voting disaster. Regardless though, these men and women abroad should have the right to vote and snail mail isn't cutting it anymore. E-voting is not a luxury in this situation, but rather would be a medium through which these individuals receive the rights they deserve. Eventually e-voting will become predominant in our society: right now we are simply playing the waiting game. The question is simply....who will try first?
I think voting online sounds like a fantastic idea in theory, for reasons that you enumerated, but I worry that it will not be a secure process. There are so many intelligent computer operators not just in the U.S., but across the world, that might seek to infiltrate/change/influence the voting results. I think that we could potentially vote on computers, but that it would be safer if these computers were not connected to the Internet, for security purposes. Admittedly, this would remove the advantage of being able to sit on one's couch at home and submit votes, but at the same time, at least we would be saving some trees/paper!
ReplyDeleteI think you definitely have proposed an extremely interesting idea, and something I never really thought about before. I believe that this easily could work and is something that should be considered. The internet is clearly the way of the future, and almost all Americans now have access to the internet. People don’t always have time to wait on long lines to vote and voting on the internet would save time and increase participation. Also, it would end ineffective counting of paper ballots that created so much controversy in the 2000 election. Furthermore, it would be much easier than sending in absentee ballots and as a college student this would definitely increase my chances of voting. I think that this is a very good idea and will probably happen at some point in the future although not for a very long time for the reasons you outlined, which is a shame.
ReplyDeleteWith the debacle of the 2004 election with Bush and Al Gore over the poorly designed voting system in Florida which used outdated, difficult to read punch holes on paper ballots, I completely agree with your argument advocating online voting. Although security seems to be the biggest issue, I believe this can be resolved as our technological advances and security firewalls capabilities increase. Furthermore, the fact that online voting saves the tax payer money and lets states allocate their resources to other pressing issues seems like a great incentive to establish this system. Online voting would help increase voter turnout for the younger populations, especially among college students who go to school outside of their homestate and those studying abroad. Maybe online voting can be expanded to collecting data during the national census conducted every decade. Especially with the budget crisis going on now, it seems like there are a lot of opportunities for the government to cut down on unnecessary spending in the long term in utilizing the internet for voting and gathering information from its citizens.
ReplyDeleteWhat I think was the most important point you made in your blog was your reference to the 26th Amendment. Being the strict textualist that I am I was delighted to see your efforts to intertwine a current problem with our founding document. Although you brought up some good points regarding online voting, I think you solved the problem as well. If people prioritized voting then we would have a greater turnout. And maybe turnout isn’t what we need for elections. Maybe we need the well-educated and well-informed citizen who cares about this country and about voting to go to the voting booth to vote. I think online voting will make things too easy for those who are less concerned. However, everything regarding our troops overseas I agree with. We need to make their voices heard as they are the ones who are literally defending our liberties.
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