World Voting on the Web - I think it's coming. Do you?
Here's what I think. Technology doesn't care if it smashes through prior systems. Sure there continues to be a "pushback" to online voting because of fear of fraud which would allow an outcome not consistent with the voting input. Like anything new, the more we use it - the easier it is to live with. Look at technologies like the cell phone, or the iPod, or the Internet itself - as the values which are inherent with these technologies become mainstream - the physical products and systems which provide the technology become mainstream as well.
Look at something like Online Voting in Google. When you put the 2 word phrase in quotes - you are basically searching the Internet for the instances of these 2 words together - online voting. I just did (early 2007) and came up with 850,000 instances. There are several eBallot systems which are gaining in popularity, and I notice that the process of online voting takes place for anything from college surveys to senior citizen group elections.
Part of the reason I think that world vote web is going to be coming upon us is because I see that we are slowly changing our democracy from a representative type where we elect people to make our laws - to a participatory type where we are empowered to make our own laws.
Actually, I see the Internet as the driving force of this shift in power - building on our distrust of politicians in general - and as we become more enlightened about the world's problems and opportunities - we can use the Internet as the global forum for a free interchange of ideas and then use the same Internet to vote on important issues.
World Vote Web is a seed for a change which is taking place during the rapid transition of politics in the 21st century. Some don't like the "big brother" image of a world democracy and that isn't to say that there aren't risks with new technologies. The Internet - however - has actually helped to liberalize giants like China and bring them into the world community. If I had to pick one of our greatest and most powerful democratizing forces at work today - it would be a free and open Internet.
If you are interested in online voting and more specifically world voting - please bookmark this website. WorldVoteWeb.com will be growing continuously as new information is being added.
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