Electronic Ballots and Voting: What's New?
Arizona's Pioneering Ballot System May Be America's Next Vote
Registered military and overseas Arizona voters will securely submit their ballots in the General Election on November 4 like other registered voters. Unlike many other registered voters, they won’t be scribbling in little ovals, punching out little holes, or standing in endless lines to use the few automated voting machines available at their designated polling places.
Voting Traditions Challenged
Many states hang onto the old traditions by providing the day-of privacy ballot box experience. Election Day polling place workers must be trained and paid. Local election boards are responsible for equipment maintenance, balloting forms and general supplies, signs, security, and more. According to a September 2008 article in Parade Magazine's "Intelligence Report "section, titled, "Will Your Vote Be Counted?" more than 30 states keep paper ballot records of votes cast.
Oregon and Washington states already bypass the long voter lines on Election Day, conducting all elections as "Vote by Mail." According to Bill Bradbury’s report in the Washington Post, January 2, 2005, election processing costs in Oregon were cut by about 30% using the mail-in ballot. Furthermore, he states that voter participation improved.
The touch-screen computer voting machines currently used across the country at polling places are fraught with complaints and problems. According to a Pima County, Arizona Election Day Precinct Inspector, touch-screens can take up to 45 minutes to complete one person's ballot. Additionally, the voter using the touch-screen receives no proof that their ballot was actually processed and completed. If the computer software fails or the machine miscounts the votes, the voter is not aware. Only if the poll workers have counted signatures correctly will those errors be discovered.
Cutting Edge Ballot Technology
Thanks to a new online website voting option implemented by Arizona’s Secretary of State, Jan Brewer, the “Military and Overseas Voter” system will provides efficiency, privacy, integrity, and security for each qualifying registered Arizona voter’s ballot. Kevin Tyne released the announcement from the office of Arizona’s Secretary of State, Jan Brewer, on September 29, 2008.
U.S. Voting Future
Arizona's new "Military and Overseas Voter" system presents a phenomenal opportunity for the future of voting in America. Utility bills are paid electronically on websites, letters are written by email, Christmas wish lists are granted online instead of at the local mall. All these things are accomplished and the results can be checked and proven by the user. Why not vote online in the same way so that the voter can check his or her ballot accuracy and proof of submission? Since so many Americans are addicted to easy access and quick response with computer interface, another excuse for not voting is down the drain.
Is Arizona’s “Military and Overseas Voter” system the magic bullet that will spark more Americans to vote in their local, state, and federal elections? How much will election processing costs go down if voters across the United States cast ballots by online voting? In this age of technology, could the 2008 Arizona prototype change the face of voting in America?
If the "Military and Overseas Voter" prototype proves successful for Arizona in this historic 2008 election year, the general population of American registered voters may have another choice in the 2012 U.S. Presidential Election. They may be not only be choosing between waiting in line at polling places to cast a ballot by paper or on the error-fraught touch-screen machines, or fumbling with paperwork for mail-in early voting, but also if they might prefer casting ballots electronically on home computers in their comfy pajamas.
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