Voting a la Internet

Being able to participate in polls and surveys online has existed for quite some time, even before the Worldwide Web took off. Yet, all of these were plagued by one fact: it is hard to secure a system and assure a single vote is given to a single person. The biggest problem arises from the anonymity of the Internet. How can we assure that the person voting is someone who is allowed to vote? How can we verify that their vote is counted only once and that they have voted only once? How can we assure that our vote remains anonymous and not "mined" mysteriously from the Internet?

Fortunately, these questions have not stopped folks from looking at the possibilities in the future of voting online. Technology is ever improving in getting us to the goals of an online society.

This November, a select group of overseas military folks will get to be the first to vote online for a presidential election. They aren't the first, however, to participate in online voting. Discussions of this possibility went into the general media during the 1996 election, where the Internet made its first appearance in a presidential election. By 1998, a couple of states were already setting up the platforms needed to run their elections both in-person and online. Currently, Arizona, California, Ohio and Florida have already developed some form of online voting for test basis. It is proposed for California to be the first instance outside of a test setup to run their elections online some time within the next year.

All parties involved in the election can see both benefits and downfalls to having Internet voting. The largest factor changed would be voting demographics.

In the last election, a dismal less than 50 percent of Americans came out to vote. The current middle to upper-middle class American lifestyle does not suit going to specific voting centers during specific times to participate. The lives of Americans have been complicated by high-paying jobs, filled with frequent and often unpredictable travel or lengthy commutes, and flex hours, to adjust for the needs of the family, that no longer confine folks to "9-10-5" office hours. Globalization has played a factor in this as well, demanding that offices be open and available for markets all over the world.

Because most businesses these days have Internet connectivity, online voting can boost the voter turnout. The middle to upper-middle class citizen, who work in these jobs, will be majority of the new users. They traditionally tend towards conservative views. As such, the Republican Party will benefit the most from Internet voting. They seem to agree as they have put the most effort into including the Internet and Internet voting in their campaign efforts.

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