Is voting free?/Internet Voting

[Molten]

I was always under the impression that you shouldn't have to pay for your right to vote. However, it was a 10 minute drive for me to get to the voting place. That ten minute drive cost me over $1 in gas. Now, that is not too much, but what about everybody driving that day. Think about how much gas the entire country used just for the right to vote. Ok, so here is my question. Is there a chance that in the future all voting can be done online? How would that work? How do you ensure identity online? I was thinking all of this while waiting in line for 10 minutes. I just think that this has some possibilities and I know others have mentioned this before....But why didn't it go anywhere?

[GaryVoshol]

Logistics aside - is getting online free?

[MrForbes]

We tried that in the 2000 Democrat primary, results were iffy....and that was a mostly uncontested race.

I could not vote with my computer the way it was set up.

And we have enough trouble with voting machines being unaccountable, I can't see how internet voting would help this problem. Paper ballots can be recounted, although it is time consuming.

[EricH]

Why not vote absentee?

[Ryan Dognaux]

Originally Posted by EricH

Why not vote absentee?

Bingo. I did this in Indiana's primary and it was so easy. You don't even have to pay for postage!

Speaking of which, jeez that was close last night. I was up until 1:30 waiting for the results. :yawn:

[Molten]

Originally Posted by EricH

Why not vote absentee?

I'm a procrastinator. I don't think a week ahead. In fact, I was planning on doing voting absentee but forgot until yesterday.

I know that there are issues with internet voting as has seen in the past, however we are engineers. We could figure out the best solution to this problem. I believe that doing things the way we have been is a solution, however it is not the best solution.

Someone brought up a good point to me the other day. We can do our taxes online, why can't they use the same thing to allow voting that way?

[Swan217]

I think that overall, online voting is a good idea, just as long as it's done by a non profit organization, and there is a paper trail or open way to affirm your vote was counted the right way after the fact. There has been way too much hanky panky with election fraud over the past 8 years (I'm looking at you, Mississippi, Ohio, Sarasota, FL, New Hampshire, Palm Beach County, FL, Tampa, FL, Indiana, and Alabama) to trust private companies with my civil rights.

Oh, and you shouldn't need an ID to vote. I'm sick of hearing about little ol' nuns and other old people in Indiana not being allowed to vote because they don't have driver's licenses.

Originally Posted by Ryan Dognaux

Speaking of which, jeez that was close last night. I was up until 1:30 waiting for the results. :yawn:

Blame Lake County (I'm looking at you Team Hammond!) for their anticlimactic but dramatic slowness.

[David55]

I heard about this a while ago and thought it was pretty interesting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electro...ing_in_Estonia

[wilsonmw04]

Originally Posted by Dan Swando

Oh, and you shouldn't need an ID to vote. I'm sick of hearing about little ol' nuns and other old people in Indiana not being allowed to vote because they don't have driver's licenses.

That's not quite true. If you do not have a valid ID, it doesn't have to be a drivers license, you can cast a provisional ballot. As long as you go to the courthouse within 10 days and prove your identity, your vote counts. I really don't see why some folks have a problem with this. Besides, the Supreme Court deemed it constitutional; 'nuf said.

[Molten]

Originally Posted by Dan Swando

Oh, and you shouldn't need an ID to vote. I'm sick of hearing about little ol' nuns and other old people in Indiana not being allowed to vote because they don't have driver's licenses.

It doesn't have to be a driver's license. The DMV issues identity cards (can't remember what they call them) that you can use for just such an occasion. They are just as good as a license, but you don't have to take a test to get them.

Just an idea, what about fingerprint analysis for voting? You get your fingerprint put into a database and then you can just scan your finger before you vote. You wouldn't have to keep any sort of ID on you and it would help prevent fraud. Oh wait, people will complain about it taking there freedom to privacy or something. I guess you can't keep everyone happy.

[Carlee10]

Yes, they have state ID cards(I have one from when I flew into Arizona a couple of years ago). It made it a lot easier to get my permit becuase I didn't need as much stuff to prove that I'm who I say I am. I like the fingerprint thing; it would also help the justice system. Maybe more people would vote if it were easier to do so. You wouldn't be able to cheat, either; it would be nearly impossible. I think that there are always people who could hack the internet or computers, or things like that; people who are freakishly smart, have too much time on thier hands, or both. It's too risky to do it over the web. I think it's funny how everybody complains about Lake county. It's rather amusing to me, especially since my dad was raised and schooled in Lake county.

[DonRotolo]

You didn't have to drive there; 10 minutes drive is within bicycle range. Voting IS free of charge; if you choose to spend money getting there, it is your choice. Walking is always free, carpooling can save money, etc.

At this point in time, Internet voting has too many logistics issues in terms of computer setup, fraud resistance, and universal access*, but surely this will become common in our lifetimes.

Don

*My 90 year old father might be able to manage it with considerable effort, but my 87 year old mother is a bit of a technophobe and would never be able to vote by Internet. Heck, she literally cannot manage the ubiquitous "press 1 for ..." instructions. Both walk to the local school to vote without any problem.

[Cory]

Some would call voting not just your right, but your civic duty, so if it takes $1 of gas, or a 10 minute walk, well that's the price for being (somewhat) in control of your legislators.

If it costs too much to drive, walk, ride a bike, skateboard, etc. Unless the nearest polling place is like 45 minutes away, thats not really a big deal.