Voting via home computers worth considering

Star Beacon

February 28, 2008 01:34 am

— Tuesday is yet another election.
And like so many times before, Ohio is in the spotlight with the Democratic primary vote.
The second election I ever covered in Ashtabula County was also the first time the county Board of Elections utilized computers.
Except the board couldn’t afford a computer system then. They were too expensive, too cumbersome, too complicated.
So the board contracted out with Northeastern Ohio National Bank in Jefferson to handle the counting of ballots.
Those of us in the news media cooled our heals in the lobby of the bank all night, literally, waiting for results.
At first, they came through slow. Then slower. Eventually, the counting stopped. The final, unofficial votes came out after 8 a.m. the next day.
Today computers are small and relatively inexpensive. My guess is your average home computer is probably far more advanced than what was used at the bank so many years ago.
So voting and counting of ballots should be a snap these days. You would think.
But somehow, recording and counting ballots remains filled with problems.
It has resulted in questionable elections. It has been the genesis for movie documentaries questioning just how well our democracy functions.
Here in Ashtabula County we are back to paper ballots. So is Cuyahoga. Whoever programmed the ballot counters erred during the last election, resulting in one race having to be hand counted.
Ashtabula County’s election board is always one of the last to report votes, hours after adjoining Lake and Geauga county boards have completed their work and went home.
You have to wonder, what is so complicated about counting ballots?
Why shouldn’t the whole country be uniform in the way people vote, using the same equipment.
Yet not only is the country not uniform, we don’t do it the same way in Ashtabula County as they do in nearby counties.
Fortunately, I have a solution.
Um, why don’t we just use our home computers?
Now somewhere along the line I heard or read the reasons voting on your home computer is a bad idea. But I can’t remember the reasons.
First of all, many people, if not a majority, have a home computer and Internet access.
And it doesn’t matter if they are in Ashtabula or Orlando for the winter, they can still vote.
Instead of just voting on Tuesday, they could vote any time over several days, ending on Tuesday.
There would need to be rules and regulations to assure there is no fraud. Perhaps you would have to register your IP address with the Board of Elections. You would be issued a password and it couldn’t be “Democrat” or “Bush” or something. The password would have to be something complicated and not easily broken, with numbers, letters and other symbols, sort of like swearing in the comic strips.
Perhaps if you wanted the convenience of voting at home, you would need to purchase a fingerprint identifier to hook to your computer. Some computers come with them.
But even that may not be necessary. People talk about the insecurity of the Internet, but if a computer is properly locked down, it is safer than transactions at real stores.
You are better off security-wise using your credit card ordering items on the Internet, rather than in a store. Store clerks can quickly write down your number. Consider when you give a waitress your card at a restaurant. When he takes it away on that little tray, he could be showing every employee in the place your card with its number.
Consider, many people file their income taxes online. Once a year, people can get their credit rating online as well.
If it is secure enough for that, it is secure enough for voting.
No hanging chads. No trying to find so many people to work the election booths.
If people could vote on their time in the comfort of their own homes, more would undoubtedly exercise their rights.
Now granted, not everyone has a computer and kinks would need to be worked out. Each community would need at least one polling place. Places like Ashtabula, Conneaut and Geneva would need more. But not as many as we have now. Think of the number of personnel that would not be needed on election day. Results would come easier and faster.
Now there’s democracy. Vote in your home and tune in to see the results.
I vote we investigate the idea.
Lebzelter is special sections editor. Read this online at www.starbeacon.com under “opinion” and vote in our poll on whether you think this is a good idea or not.

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