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It would pose problems of voter anonymity, but if it were possible to store everyone's vote at one election on a secret and secure database, it would then be possible to allow those who are not changing their allegiance not to bother voting next time as their previous choice would carry forward.
Alternativelty,
they could change their vote to 'abstain' or 'other side' at any time, not just when an election is due, and that default would prevail at the actual election.
A side-effect would be that the public's voting intention would be known at all times, obviating the need for opinion polls as the overall percentages could be made available daily on the secure website at which one could login and check/change one's vote.
If everyone got into the swing of voting on this website instead of in person, the same secure system could be used for referenda, which at the moment are highly expensive and unwieldy. Those without internet access or the inclination to use it could still vote in person or by post, but I would anticipate thise dwindling away as the years go by.
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That'd have to be one super secure website. I wouldn't trust it. |
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I don't like using it to substitute for opinion polls (opinions change daily, with world events, and voters certainly aren't going to log in every time their opinion changes). |
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But I like the idea of being able to vote automatically without going to the polls. Around election day, you receive a notice in the mail: IMPORTANT NOTICE: YOU HAVE PRE-SELECTED THE FOLLOWING VOTING CHOICE: ALL DEMOCRATS. TO CANCEL THIS VOTE, CALL xxx-xxx-xxxx OR VISIT YOUR POLLING CENTER. |
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Sounds like a great idea, for countries with non-compulsary voting especially. It does raise a question though: does someone who can't be bothered voting deserve a say in national politics? In the wider scheme of things, this is quite a hard question to answer... |
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So instead of the cemetery vote, we get the comatose, forgetful, and voted-in-a-drunken-daze-twenty-years-ago-and-left-no-forwarding-address vote. No, please. |
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