Lasting Solutions Part II

Last week I touched on the symptoms which have stemmed from the actual problem plaguing the United States throughout the economic crisis. I had written that the primary problems in America today were:

1) That our government no longer reflects the will of its people
2) That our elected officials are not equipped to effectively lead
3) That the government has become a business rather than a service

Today I will address part one of this problem, the fact that our government no longer reflects the will of its people. Obviously there are many things that go along with this idea that are inter related and have to be considered. As a result this is presented only to be the framework for change. It is my representation of the framework I would like to see considered and implemented regarding this issue; nothing more nothing less.

In order to properly allow for the government to reflect the will of its people I believe we must materially alter our voting processes. In particular the idea of maintaining write-in voting and having designated precincts is simply archaic. In principal the idea may have made sense in the past but currently it is very outdated and ineffective at getting our best and brightest into office.





Electronic Voting
For starters why is it that every facet of our lives can be controlled online yet we cannot get our ballots available electronically? All of the discussion about electronic voting primarily revolves around “voting machines” and this is what the three main arguments against electronic voting say:

Against
According to Bruce Schneier; who is opposed to the idea -“Technology adds more steps to the process and thus increases the possibility of error with each additional step, all of which are largely unseen by the voter. Put Murphy’s Law of “whatever can go wrong, will go wrong’ into play, and one can surmise that technology will most likely falter.”

A black box voting machine increases the opportunity for the creation of fraudulent voting machines and practices. This occurs because the software to run them must remain black box so that the public is not allowed access to the software. As a result fraud could go masked in the software and no one would know the wiser.

Voter accuracy will be jeopardized because a voter has no way of confirming a vote, and there is also no way of conducting a recount with direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting. DRE does not offer a “paper trail”, no verification record, and thus no scrutiny of the process if something needs to be recalled. They also do not certify that the personal information required of a user to vote will be safeguarded in the machine.

Why “Against” Isn’t Thinking Clearly
First off using a “Voting Box” is just a dumb outdated idea - We have access to all of our financial accounts online, our personal records online, all of our state records online, and even some of our federal records online; so why are we discussing the creation of a physical electronic ballot box? If all of this critical information is available and “protected” online, why can we not figure out how to protect our votes the same way? Voting online will also allow us to add flexibility to when a person can vote. We may not even have to have election day be just a day; perhaps it becomes election week? Regarding the “What can go wrong will” argument, why do people like Mr. Schneir even leave the house if they feel this way? It makes me wonder what would have happened if the postal service had said that about the implementation of email. We need to be flexible to adjust for changed times, this argument is the definition of inflexibility.

I understand the basis of the argument that we need a voting machine, because not everyone has computer or internet access. Ok fine, then set up centralized voting centers with lap tops and the internet for them to access and log in. If that doesn’t work then mail them an absentee ballot and send it in to be counted as usual. After those are tallied then just add the total to the number of votes received online.

As for the next argument, since we’ve already eliminated the need for a voting machine no fraudulent activity increase can occur within something that doesn’t exist. To the point of fraud occurring online, or in general for that matter, I would suggest that fraud can occur using paper ballots just as easily. We cannot make decisions based on the idea that fraud may occur, but should make reasonable efforts to avoid it from occurring. Under any system the process will never be entirely fraud free and that is something that we all just have to accept as some people will always deviate towards doing the wrong thing no matter what.

Lastly, with regard to voter accuracy being jeopardized by electronic or web based voting, the integrity of our personal records being lost, or the idea that a voter can’t confirm a vote let me quickly beat that down:

Hanging Chad- Here’s your accuracy with paper

If you want my personal information go here

and

Has anyone ever heard of a confirmation box?

A Brief Summary Of How The Process Might Work

So this is how it might work (our collective minds can make this work I promise you)

1. The government details what is required of a voter registration system and database online they will establish the URL http://www.voteusa.gov/. At this time they will also establish concrete success metrics for implementation which must be audited and adhered to on a yearly basis. After this the government will contract the creation of the system, based on the government specifications, to the private sector. The private sector would then build and manage the web portal as well as the national database for a minimum of 10 years or 2 elections before the contract comes up for bid again.

2. We start the search process now and set a deadline of 2 years to complete the project and test it before our next major election. The volunteers to test it will be unemployed people who are looking for work in our economy. The government will give them additional monies to answer questions about and use the system as a Beta group. The unemployed will also be used to do annual audits of the system on an annual basis for additional funding. If they choose not to participate they remain under the same unemployment guidelines as usual.

3. At http://www.voteusa.gov/ a voter will have to enter in the following information at a minimum:

-Social Security Number or Other Federal Identification number if you are eligible to vote in the US
- Drivers License Number or State ID number
- Date and county of birth if born in the US and/or country of origin if a nationalized citizen
- Anything else that we all have to identify us as eligible voters.

4. The system will require that users will be able to log in for elections at 12:01 the Monday of the week the election period starts and will be able to vote until 11:59 from anywhere in the world on the Friday the election ends. This will be possible online because voter registration will be identifiable by the information used to log in and the profile associated with that log in information. Additionally, adding a week voting period will allow for flexibility in when people vote, will allow people to change their minds if they get voters remorse, allows people to review their votes, and can allow for errors in the system to be reported. In the event there is an error in the system having a week voting period should allow for the problem to be fixed and will spread voting web traffic out over the course of a week rather than into a 24 hour period.

5. After the stroke of midnight on the Friday of voting week the voting database compiles all of the information it has collected over the previous week. It then creates statistical reports about what has happened, notes any irregularities that are noticed, and determines the winner of the election.

The online voting process does not have to be impossible and is not impossible. It does not have to be some huge debate, and it doesn’t have to be expensive. We can implement online voting, we can change the way we vote within the confines of our constitutional rights, and we can make everyone’s voice heard. All we have to do to accomplish this is be the change Obama wants us to believe in.

Stay Tuned