Can E Voting Be Trusted?

[ToraToraTora]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30234304
I don't think so. I don't want democracy to become a hacking competition. If they do introduce it what safe guards can be put in place?

[janbee]

It can be trusted as much as postal voting so.....NO, it can't !

[Svejk]

Lefty fiddles the postal vote & they even fiddle the green arrows. Unless you get a certificate they should put a stop to all this nonsense.

[ToraToraTora]

well postal voting cannot be trusted at all!

[janbee]

My point exactly ! Either vote in person or forfeit the right to so do.

[jim360]

No voting system is entirely safe from fraud. E-voting could help to increase voter turnout, and with the proper safeguards it would be about as safe as voting in person (where, after all, you don't really need formal identification either).

[ToraToraTora]

I think they need to make provision for the forces etc but yes janbee I agree generally with that sentiment

[Old_Geezer]

All voting systems have risks. If willing to trust your credit card details when making an Internet purchase, how concerned should you be over e-voting when you know boxes of paper votes can be lost with the present system anyway ?

[jim360]

I would say that e-voting has the potential to be many times safer than postal voting, so in that sense it could be an improvement on the current system. Internet security is less vulnerable, if done properly, than is sometimes made out. And we do need some form of remote/ by-proxy voting as there are people who want to vote but are unable for whatever reason to make it to the polling stations physically. Seems harsh to exclude them from the democratic process.

[ichkeria]

I think there are multiple issues with e-voting, and it was interesting to hear Jimmy Wales voice those fears on the radio the other day.
There is indeed a lot to be said for people voting in public places, where it can be guaranteed that they come under less influence at the point of voting.
I'm not sure what safeguards you could employ to address the issue for example, of people being forced to cast an e vote under duress, for example.

[Gromit]

yes we should have electronic voting. With the usual caveats about security and anti fraud.

It is more convenient, more efficient and appeals to busy voters or those travelling.

[Gromit]

Interesting video of how internet voting works in Estonia

http://vvk.ee/voting-methods-in-estonia/engindex/

[ichkeria]

Interesting. Estonia is a highly advanced country electronically.

[Old_Geezer]

Once it comes in, we can dispense with MPs and vote on issues directly. We probably still need folk to explain, in easy to understand language, the pro and con of each viewpoint though, before the final vote.

[ichkeria]

Maybe we trust ourselves enough as a country to follow the lead of countries like Estonia, but I firmly believe that there are implications for this that have not been thought through properly.
Imagine for example if e-voting became a worldwide phenomenon: it would give carte blanche to any unscrupulous government to hold snap elections and referenda: for example, look at the travesty of elections in Crimea and Donbass recently: these were plainly fraudulent, as the authorities could not hide the spectacle of empty polling stations, and people who did turn up getting their children and even their dogs to vote.
How much more convenient instead to make the whole thing up anyway but claim most had voted at home.
The scenario painted by Old Geezer does not bear thinking about (!)

[Gromit]

Ichkeria,

The situation in Ukraine is quite exceptional, and not really appropriate to a discussion about the merits (or not) of electronic voting. Unscruplous regimes will fix votes no matter what system of voting is used. If anything, the safeguards such as those in Estonia would make vote fixing harder, not easier.

[ichkeria]

Yes it is fine in Estonia no doubt but while the examples I quote are extreme ones they matter and while I support the idea in principle we really need to be sure we know the risks.

[ichkeria]

And I am not so sure the situation in Ukraine IS that deception all. Dubious elections are held all the time. It's hard enough to police them as it is

[ichkeria]

...exceptional (doh)

[DaisyNonna]

janbee, easier said than done.
Many people are not physically able to get to a polling station. Should all those people be disenfranchised?

[BlackadderV]

Voting via a ballot box is just as open to rigging. The USSR had this off to a tee. Voters were presented with a ballot paper containing only one name. If they approved they merely placed the paper in the ballot box unmarked. There was an alternative of striking out the name, but to do that you needed to ask for a pencil and go into a booth. It was a brave man or woman who did that.