When Risks and Opportunities concerning Digital Voting comes to the cutting-edge technology that we are using to make online voting accessible to millions of people around the nation, we prefer to maintain an open mind. Since this is such a novel kind of technology, there will undoubtedly be some obstacles to surmount. This essay takes an objective look at the possibilities of a genuine digital democracy and discusses some very major benefits and drawbacks of voting online, both of which have the potential to either hold us back or propel us ahead into a new era.
Follow My Vote and our partners are working hard every day to overcome some of the most significant issues we have on this path to success and to develop an open-source voting system that is both safe and auditable by the general public.
Here are the Risks and Opportunities concerning Digital Voting;
Risks
Interference in Elections
Viruses may be found everywhere there is Internet access. The Internet is composed of an almost unfathomably enormous network of computers, and keeping tabs on the security of each of those systems is a laborious and expensive endeavor that will never be able to guarantee the complete absence of risk. This is hardly a problem when you’re just using your computer to update your blog, but when you’re making decisions on the future of a whole country, even the tiniest security breach may have very serious repercussions.
In addition, skilled hackers might theoretically discover methods to rig the result of the elections, such as by messing with the way ballots are submitted and tallied or even by casting votes for persons who did not really want to vote. This could be done in a number of different ways. In addition to this, if polling places are not watched, there is no way to verify that voters were not pressured into casting their ballots in a certain manner. Also, it may be difficult to demonstrate the identity of the individual casting the vote through the internet.
Opportunities
The fact that online voting has the potential to make voting simpler and more convenient is perhaps the most significant advantage of using online voting. Voting online would need no more work than clicking your mouse a few times for those people who have access to computers and the internet.
This method of voting eliminates the need for transportation, reduces or eliminates missed time at work or school, and reduces the impact of barriers such as a lack of child care, illness, confusion about polling locations, and long lines. In addition, this method of voting eliminates the need for absentee voting, which is the practice of casting a ballot absentee. Voting would become less of a hassle and more of a private experience for those who struggle with disability, anxieties, or major medical problems.
If you need to set up an election for your organization, consider the Risks and Opportunities concerning Digital Voting above.
