Fancy Online Voting For Your Next Mp?

[youngmafbog]

Well ok, not for 2015 but possibly after. Is this a good idea or would it lead to massive abuse?

http://news.sky.com/story/1414812/digital-democracy-call-for-online-voting

[Gromit]

This was discussed here last month.

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/News/Question1389583.html

[janbee]

Online voting and postal voting should be scrapped.

[Gromit]

This is how it works in Estonia. It can be very secure and is no more susceptable to fraud than the present system.

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

[dannyk13]

Janbee, If postal voting was scrapped then housebound people(like me) would be unable to vote.

[youngmafbog]

Apologies Gromit, I dont log in every day. Must have missed the laast debate.

//Online voting and postal voting should be scrapped. //

Why ?

[whirlyhurly]

I think postal voting should be encouraged, it's ideal for folk who can't be bothered to go to a polling station.

[ToraToraTora]

well postal voting is widely abused so online voting will be even simpler to abuse. Given the lack of reslience to hacking shown by governement websites generally this is a silly I idea. Postal voting should be abolished too if you ask me (beyond provision for diplomats/forces etc). If you can't make it to the polling station in the 14 hours they are open then you don't deserve a vote. If you really cannot make it use a proxy.

[New Judge]

I look forward to the mayor of Tower Hamlets receiving votes from 120% of the electorate :-)

[bazwillrun]

NJ has beaten me to it.

The aisans up and down the country cant wait.....

[ichkeria]

The real issue with online voting as I see it is the possibility that, with voting out of the sight of human observers, people might be coerced to vote in a particular way and no one would know.
As long as the technology can ensure genuinely private voting then I am in favour.

[anotheoldgit]

Agree with the judge,

/// Almost all the worst instances of postal vote fraud since 2000 have happened in seats with large south Asian concentrations, such as Oldham, Blackburn and Tower Hamlets. In 2004, Richard Mawrey QC, presiding over an election court, found six British Asian Labour councillors from Birmingham guilty of corruption that would, he said, "disgrace a banana republic". He declared that the Government's introduction of postal voting on demand was "an open invitation to fraud". ///

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/mary-ann-sieghart/mary-ann-sieghart-how-dodgy-postal-votes-may-decide-our-next-government-7646617.html

[bazwillrun]

I think glasgow also had fraud thanks to their asians....

[ichkeria]

I don't think fraud is the issue. At least not in the UK. And not fraud in the sense of multiple voting or whatever.
Whenever this subject is brought up here though it always seems to be hijacked by people complaining about Asians.
A bit like 70% of the questions in general it would seem.
We should certainly keep postal voting. Would we abolish banking because of financial fraud?
I hope online voting will not replace polling stations but subject to the caveats already mentioned, if it means more people voting then it would be good.
When I hear even people like Jimmy Wales being hesitant about the implementation then I do have reservations about that

[anotheoldgit]

ichkeria

/// I don't think fraud is the issue. At least not in the UK. ///

It has been proven that it is, so much so that the Government has had to introduce certain measures to try and prevent it.

/// Whenever this subject is brought up here though it always seems to be hijacked by people complaining about Asians. ///

Much as you would wish this not to so, the link that I have posted proves it to be, sorry to hurt your sensitivities but it is fact.

[New Judge]

No you would not abolish banking because of financial fraud. But you would not introduce facilities which would clearly make it easier.

I don't know of any instances of voting fraud among non-Asian communities. In fact it was virtually unheard of anywhere in the UK until a few years ago. Unpalatable as it may sound, I believe this is purely an Asian thing. And before you jump at me, I'm not suggesting all Asians are at it but that all those who are at it are Asians - an entirely different thing.

The introduction of postal voting on demand facilitated the type of fraud that has been investigated in recent years. My own view is that unless you have a genuine reason (which should be verified by the authorities before you are granted a remote vote) you should turn up in person at the polling station. Any move away from this simply encourages fraud.

[sandyRoe]

"Vote early , vote often", Has been an unofficial Sinn Fein election motto for quite some time.

[ichkeria]

The question is about online voting: and therefore the issue of postal voting is only tangentially relevant. So it's disappointing when people only want to talk about issues of fraud relayed to postal voting, rather than address the pros and cons of online voting.

[ichkeria]

I'm at a loss to see how voting online would exacerbate the (I suspect grossly exaggerated) issues with postal voting which is in any case currently the only option for those who cannot get to a polling station.
I suspect it would solve that - but there are other problems perhaps

[New Judge]

OK then. Online voting:

PROS: Easy for people to do; Possibly (a very big if given the government's record on IT projects) could be linked up to an automated counting system so that results could be available within a very short time.

CONS: Open to abuse. Those inclined to do so can gain access to multiple votes by gathering the passwords (or whatever) of a number of people.

My own view is that the scope for abuse is enormous, far greater than that which exists for postal voting. I'm not generally against progress and think the internet has brought enormous benefits. (Personally I'd find it difficult to cope without it). However, voting in person is not a big deal. As I said earlier, adequate arrangements can be made for those who genuinely cannot make it to the polling station but the facility should only be available for those who need it.

[EDDIE51]

Why not the US system where you vote in person but it is recorded electronically. Those with mobility problems can have a mobile voting unit taken to them. Results within seconds of the polls closing.