Why Can’t We Vote Online?

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If astronauts can vote from space, why can’t the rest of us vote digitally? Fear of hackers, says CNN

The battle over whether to digitize the voting process has become a full-blown war in the United States, even as countries like Canada, Norway and Australia have increasingly adopted online systems. Proponents say going digital will boost voter turnout, while naysayers cite hacking and other security threats as risks too great to overcome in the near future.

“It’s such a different world than it was 20 years ago, and yet very little has changed in our voting process,” says Rob Weber, a former IT professional at IBM who started the blog Cyber the Vote in 2010.

The article covers some efforts to create secure online voting systems, and also mentions a couple that have failed. But because of Hurricane Sandy, today New Jersey voters will get to vote by fax or email – and maybe it’ll set a precedent. Or doom the effort for another decade.

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