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| Source: blog.lib.umn.edu |
Low voter turnout is a huge problem; in many countries
voters have been showing up at polls in very low numbers, especially when it
comes to local elections and primaries. Many people, especially connected young
people, wonder why they can't just vote online. There are many potential
advantages to Internet voting; it would make election costs lower and be more
convenient for voters. But would more people vote? The theory of implementing
online voting, and every citizen engaging fully with elections is utopia; the
reality may not be remotely close to that vision.
Some critics of
Internet voting think potential online voting systems will trivialize the
importance of this crucial action. Tradition and symbolism are involved in going to the polling
places, marking ballots and placing them in the ballot box. Critics worry that
Internet voting would turn elections into online popularity contests at the
level of Dancing with the Stars.
One nation
leading the way in the adoption of Internet voting is Estonia. It has had Internet voting since 2005; however experts note that
no positive effect on electoral turnout has been proven in Estonia or any other
Internet voting so far. This seems to show that voters are still quite
skeptical of this option.
While there are ample motivations to implement Internet voting,
reasons to hesitate at this point are even stronger. There are many concerns
that need be resolved before Internet voting will go mainstream and be thoroughly
embraced by the populace. The biggest fear is hacking and manipulation of the
vote counts. Other concerns are the possibilities of fraudulent votes and even
vote buying.
A pilot Internet voting project in Washington, DC in 2010 was
the target of an epic hacking by a University of Michigan professor and two
teams of students. Within 36 hours, they attacked a vulnerability in the system
and took over control of the votes. Even more troubling, the hacking went
unnoticed until they revealed themselves by playing the UM fight song when a
ballot was cast. The hacker extraordinaire, Alex Halderman, said that he can't
imagine any current system that would be totally secure from hackers. This experience clearly shows that we are not
ready for mainstream Internet voting, and that most voters would surely be
skeptical of Internet voting at this point as well. Until the problems are
resolved, no increase in voter turnout can be expected by implementing Internet
voting.
Resolutions to
these problems will need to be found. Safety and transparency in the voting
process are vital, so answering the important questions about how to ensure the
reliability of the system are crucial.
