The Internet voting system approved by Vancouver city council promises unprecedented and untraceable voter fraud if it is allowed to proceed. We can only hope the provincial government will have the good sense to reject the city’s plan.
On the face of it, the system would allow voters to cast their ballots from the comfort of their own home. The idea sounds attractive and inevitable. After all, isn’t everything going online? Proponents suggest Internet voting will increase voter participation and will be secure. They are wrong on both counts.Internet systems are secure enough for banking, so you might think Internet voting systems are up to the task of collecting and counting votes.
Unfortunately voting systems are different from online banking. Banking systems have audit trails that link the identity and conduct of a user. A voting system cannot link your name to your vote because the ballot must be secret. There is no way to determine whether a fraud has occurred or who committed it. This means that a candidate is deprived of the right to challenge results and have a recount. Internet voting systems presume that everything and everyone involved is beyond reproach.
Banking systems accept a level of fraud. If a banking customer observes a fraud the transaction can be reversed. A voting system does not offer the voter the ability to posthumously examine a vote and does not afford officials the option of correcting an error.
Full Article: Online voting: An open invitation to voting fraud.