How Come You Can Buy Groceries from Your Fridge, but You Can’t Vote on Your Computer?
Friday, June 30th, 2017Technology sure has come a long way. The rise of computers and the internet has meant that we can conduct so much of our lives online. With Wi-Fi or mobile data, you can work on your laptop by the beach, do the weekly shopping on your phone and even find the life partner of your dreams through an app. One task that is notably absent is voting.
It seems like online voting would be a great idea. You could participate in democracy from the comfort of your couch, rather than having to march all the way down to the polling booth. Many believe that it would increase voter turnout as well, resulting in a more engaged democracy.
Some countries have dipped their toes in the waters of online voting and Estonia has cannonballed in, but why don’t we do it in the US? While it may seem like a relatively straightforward process, online voting presents a range of technological and security challenges that the US isn’t quite ready to deal with.
When you consider how important elections are, as well as how willing other nations are to influence elections, it is best to tread cautiously with online voting. After last years attacks on our election, it has become evident just how vulnerable the voting process is. While online voting may certainly be viable in the future, there are several obstacles that we need to traverse beforehand.
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