Electronic voting technology can be
implemented along nearly every step along the democratic process, empowering
citizens to exercise their right to vote in the most convenient, most secure
and most efficient manner possible. There are direct-recording electronic (DRE)
voting machines, for instance, that offer many profound benefits over
traditional paper ballots. There are machines for recording, counting and
tabulating the ballots to provide the results as quickly and as accurately as
possible.
But even before a voter can make his mark
on the ballot, digital or otherwise, he must first be properly identified,
authenticated and registered to vote. In the United States, online voter
registration is quickly rising in popularity across many of the states, making
the democratic process more relevant and more approachable particularly for
younger demographics. The growth has been pronounced and it has been rapid.
As recently as 2008, online voter
registration was only available in
Arizona and Washington State, providing this access to just 4 percent of
all eligible voters across the country. Just six years later in 2014, these
figures skyrocketed to the point where a
total of 20 states were offering online voter registration to its
residents, accounting for nearly half of all eligible voters in the United
States. These include California, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota,
Nevada, New York, Oregon and more. It is also being used in the District of
Columbia.
The growth is continuing in more states too
as Hawaii, Massachusetts, Nebraska and West Virginia are all already working on
implementing online systems of their own for the purposes of voter
registration. More recently, just last month, Florida Governor Rick Scott approved
the use of online voter registration in the Sunshine State. The motion
received “overwhelming bipartisan support.” Six other states have also approved
similar legislation for the development of online voter registration systems.
In Florida's case, the mandate calls for its implementation by October 2017.
In its review of online voter registration
systems in the United States, the Pew
Charitable Trusts found that online registration was more cost-effective
than traditional paper registration, it provided for more accurate voter rolls,
it was more secure, and it was more convenient for voters to register too. The United
States Presidential Commission on Electoral Administration similarly
supports the use of online voter registration. It's no wonder that it has
strong support in many of the remaining states without such a system, like New
Jersey. Other states, like South
Dakota, have less enthusiastic.
The bigger push toward online voter registration
in the United States is both mirrored and further demonstrated in other
countries around the world as well. A prime example of this is the recent
general election in the United Kingdom. The overwhelming majority of voters in
this election chose to register via digital means rather than through paper
forms.
This was more clearly demonstrated on the
biggest registration day, April 19, when nearly
470,000 people registered to vote electronically compared to just under
16,000 chose to do so with paper forms. All said, 7.1
million people in the United Kingdom used the online voter registration
system since its original introduction last summer. Just 2.1 million people
used postal registration over the same period of time.
