Friday, February 20, 2009

Is E-voting the best way to vote?

Theoretically, the idea of being able to vote from home seems much more efficient than having to stand in long lines in order to cast a vote by hand. However, e-voting has many downfalls and security risks that make it less desirable for the American voter. First off, e-voting gives an unfair advantage to those who are better off financially, making it easier for people with their own computers and internet connections to simply vote from the comfort of their home. However, what would people do that can't afford computers? E-voting could be seen as a barrier to entry for those without computers making it extremely difficult to even vote.
Another problem that arises with e-voting is selling votes. Historically, states such as New York were seen as Democratic stomping grounds, primarily because of bullying by the Democratic machine in New York to swing votes for their candidate. With e-voting, politicians could be seen once again essentially paying off people to vote for them. In order to ensure this vote, someone could be sent to houses that have been paid off in order to watch the person cast their vote, thus taking away the privacy provided at an official polling place. Even further, politicians could simply "buy" the candidates voting information ensuring their vote as they would be the person logging in and casting the vote, not the voter themselves.
The biggest problem I have with e-voting, however, involves the risks of hackers. Obviously, terrorist organizations would love to disrupt the server using a DDoS attack, thus not allowing many people to log online to vote. Further, individual politicians could send viruses to home computers that would alter one's vote in the favor of an individual politician. Thus begs the question, does anyone else feel the same as me in that e-voting allows for discrepancies amongst voters at the same time many security risks that could potentially put someone dangerous into power of our United States?