Voting Machine - Personal PC Programming Software

Note: I have used he/his to keep it simple. One could substitute she/hers as needed.

Government needs a R&D Dept. An example of this application would be the development of a foolproof method, password protected, that would enable citizens to vote from home or work on a personal computer.

Instead of throwing the whole plan out country-wide and was done with the new Medicare Plan, this plan would first be tested on a town, city or county, gradually work up to a state level then nationally.

In the case of the voting machine pc program, the plan would be developed by a software company who would try every way they can think of to beat the system. Once it has qualified as a viable system, they would test it in a target town or city. This test would be just that, a test, but the traditional election would also be conducted. People would be asked for their opinions, hold town meetings and blogs. Results would be watched by the national news and reported and posted on-line. One would try to find every problem with the new system and address all possibilities.

The ideal system would:
Present each office, describe the duties of the office and list the requirements, all of which a person could skip if desired. One should be able to spend as little or as much time needed and move at one’s own speed. One would have a choice of different languages. There would be an audio version for the blind or larger print for those who need it to see.

As one clicks on each office, the candidates would be listed. One could then click on each candidate and receive either a written synopsis of the candidate’s position or if one has broadband, he could listen to the candidate speak on why he wishes to be elected. This would give a voter the chance to listen to every candidate even if they had missed the ads, the news interviews, etc. But these official speeches or write-ups on the ballot would be limited to, say, ½ typed page or perhaps, a one minute speech.

This is not to say that at the end of the official recording/written record, the candidate could add "for more information, look at my website at www..."

One would be able to come back and change his vote before the deadline or finish voting later, i.e. the website would save the votes checked and one would pick up where he left off. However, once the ballot is completed and one hits the ‘VOTE’ button then the ballot is tabulated and there will be no changing it. If one were watching the score box on the screen then he might see it change as his vote is rung up. With close elections, I can see candidates buying immediate air time and urging his supporters to close the gap. It would be like a telethon to motivate voters, especially in a very close race. This would take democracy to a new level.

Some persons will wish to continue voting the traditional way. There must be a way to determine which registered voters are web voters and which are poll site voters so that one cannot do both.

Poll web addresses must be guarded so that candidates cannot send out junk mail.

It goes without saying that the password to each User ID must be known only to the voter and not recorded in any database. The NSA cannot ever under any circumstances, or any other branch of the government, have access to these files for any reason, whatsoever.

IF this could be made to work:

• One could vote from the privacy of one’s home.
• One could vote from anywhere in the world.
• User ID could be a social security number. IF one died, it would be much easier to block out that number.
• During testing, cheating would be encouraged as would hacking and an award would be given to those that found any loopholes.
• Nearly everyone would vote in each election.
• Those without computers could vote from schools or libraries, etc.
• Eventually, the voting booths would have the same computers with the same programs. Older voters who are not computer literate would have someone help them and go into the booth with them. A retirement home would have its own computer voter center as would a hospital. Laptops could be carried around to patients who would otherwise not be able to go out and vote.

(I wrote this four year’s ago so one could now add: One could even vote from your Smart Phone. There would be an app for it.)

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October 19, 2010