It looks like Babel’s Ward 8 voters will get to vote in a by-election this December to replace their councillor. It will require council to agree but that is the staff recommendation. What the staff recognized is that it is the more democratic solution. And that is tough to argue against.
But the real question is can Babel trust its out-of-date voting system in even a tightly controlled by-election? Working with the antiquated computer system in the last municipal election was an exercise in concern. The good news was that the old software could not be hacked because the machines operated off-line. They only came together after the votes were cast to tally the total votes. That final tally period was a lengthy, hand-wringing period of deep concern.
Contrary to what is expected of a computerized voting system, each bank of the machines had to come with a human care-giver. This election official had to change modules for specific wards and school system support for the individual voters. This person was also the trouble-shooter to assist voters confused by the system. And they were confused.
There is an adage in the computer industry that ‘user-friendly’ is a ghost—something that people talk about but have never seen. The basic problem is that what is self-evident to a computer programmer might not be self-evident to a human.
Some of the more interesting problems Babel experienced in the last municipal election were that the election officials were mainly city employees who must have been handed an instruction manual rather than having to attend training. They tended to take their written instructions literally, without comprehending the rational behind the instructions. One polling official had tried to place the candidates’ scrutinineers on the other side of the room to ‘witness’ the procedures. This was changed once the official understood that the scrutinineers had to both see and hear what was taking place.
With today’s software and high speed Internet capabilities, there would be few problems in setting up an Internet voting system for the by-election in December. What might take longer are the demonstrations needed to convince all concerned that the system is secure.
It will be essential though for the next municipal election. The outmoded voting machines will no longer be practical as there are insufficient numbers of them available to handle the potential number of voters. An Internet system is the only practical answer. And if we want to ensure the franchise to the citizens of Babel, it is the essential answer.
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Copyright 2012 © Peter Lowry
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