Electronic voting systems are used worldwide, with supporters believing they are more efficient than paper ballots, while critics are concerned about security. Many US communities are converting to electronic voting to comply with legal mandates, but flaws such as the lack of a paper trail and variable error rates need to be addressed.
When voters use electronic systems to cast their votes, this is known as e-voting or e-voting. A variety of electronic voting systems are in use around the world, from optical scanners that read hand-marked ballots to fully electronic touchscreen voting systems. Supporters of electronic voting systems believe these systems are more accurate and efficient than traditional paper ballots, while critics are concerned about the security of electronic voting. Some critics support e-voting in principle, but want to see better systems developed that protect voters’ rights.
For citizens, voting is a relatively simple process. A citizen marks a ballot to indicate his preferences and then gives the ballot to a voting official. Voting officials must check their ballots carefully to make sure they are not marred or damaged, and then must quickly and accurately calculate the votes cast. Electronic voting systems are designed to make things easier for election officials by collecting and processing votes so that election results can be obtained instantly.
Many communities across the United States are converting to electronic voting to comply with legal mandates. Electronic voting should be easier for voters with disabilities, and entirely electronic systems such as touchscreens can be programmed to display information in multiple languages or provide audio voting choices for visually impaired voters. Many of these mandates are also designed to streamline the voting process in hopes of preventing disenfranchisement.
Using electronic voting machines is generally easy for voters. In the case of an optical scanning system, the voter is given a paper ballot to fill out, together with a special marker. After filling out the ballot, the voter feeds it into an optical scanning machine which reads and calculates the votes. A touchscreen voting system presents voting choices on a screen that the voter can tap to record their preferences.
There are some serious flaws involved in electronic voting. For example, many of these machines do not have a paper trail. This makes it difficult for voters to verify that their votes have been registered correctly, making polling stations vulnerable to fraud. Electronic voting also has variable error rates, and it can be difficult to obtain information about voting machines from their manufacturers, since these companies want to keep proprietary secrets to protect their market share. Critics of these systems hope that these flaws can be addressed to make electronic voting safe, secure and reliable.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
