It seems so obvious that people should be able to vote online. After all, we bank, email and keep detailed employee profiles under virtual lock and key, and those endeavors are all going so well, right? Uh, maybe not. Numerous big-ticket entities like Sony, the U.S. government and just about every bank in the world is all too familiar with the perils of cybercrime, as are the innocent bystanders whose hard-earned cash and identities are compromised. Still, in a society where people have grown accustomed to accomplishing every task electronically, from ordering pizza to renewing a driver’s license, many are scratching their heads wondering what the deal is with an antiquated voting process that often feels like we’re partying in 1999. One might argue that today’s touch-screen precinct kiosks are still light-years ahead of the easily misread and misused paper ballots of yore (you know Al Gore still screams “hanging chad!” in his sleep), and they wouldn’t be wrong. In a world where technology is constantly changing to make everything faster, it seems counterintuitive that most countries have yet to adopt online voting as a standard. It seems even more incredible that many U.S. states have reverted back to paper ballots, thanks to electronic machines that have broken down or become unreliable, and have yet to be replaced. To some voting experts however, this trend is par for the course.
… Obviously, the main threat to online voting is presented by the aforementioned cyber-criminals who already do things like expose cheating spouse accounts and siphon off dollars from bank accounts. “An election would be an obvious target for hacking,” says Bernstein.
In fact, at least one test program has already been shot full of virtual holes by hackers, who rigged it so that the University of Michigan fight song played upon completion of every ballot cast. The hack was courtesy of a bunch of Michigan students (encouraged by a professor), who sought to prove that the system was flawed and insecure.
This concern was voiced by numerous experts, but was subsequently ignored by election officials until the rabid Wolverines made their point. “Generally what we can all agree on is that technology is always going to be part of a long-term solution, but if we move too fast it can bring more problems than benefits,” Bernstein says. “The important thing is that changes be made without haste and in a way that is secure.”
Full Article: Online Voting: It Could Be Easier, But Is It Better? – HowStuffWorks.