Watch the video at https://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-54736307
and discuss what they say about digital voting. Present your experiences and knowledge and well.
English Conversation Course for Part-Time Students
Watch the video at https://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-54736307
and discuss what they say about digital voting. Present your experiences and knowledge and well.
During the first lockdown and the elections that were to be held, I talked a lot with my relatives and friends about voting over the Internet. I believe that such a form could significantly affect the turnout and also eliminate the possibility of forging ballots. Of course, there is a possibility of hacking systems, so they would have to be strongly secured and maintained by impartial people.
ReplyDeleteI think online voting is very convenient - both for people with disabilities and those who don't like to waste their time. Nowadays and in the present circumstances, most people are at home anyway, so why not vote over the internet? The matter is handled quickly, you don't need to physically go to the facility and vote there. On the other hand, such a possibility comes with a huge responsibility - firstly, voting programs should be resistant to all kinds of attacks and data leaks. Secondly, the people who operate these tools at the very end of the process should not take sides (e.g. during presidential elections), as there is always the risk that voting data may be somewhat modifiable. Nevertheless, I believe that in good hands such an online voting system is a really great solution.
ReplyDeleteThe whole idea itself is completely correct. These days we should assume that more and more functions are going to be done/held via internet. Of course it raises some doubts, but the truth is (in this case) classic voting raises doubts too. Personally, I don't know which way of voting is safier in case of any kind of fraud, but I am sure e-voting is safier for each and every voter (especially now, during covid)
ReplyDeleteOnline voting seems to be a very simple and convenient way to involve people in elections, but there are many risks involved. Very big plus is that voters do not have to leave the house to vote, it is very helpful for people with disabilities and in the current pandemic it increases the safety of citizens. The second advantage is a significant acceleration of the counting of votes, the human element would be virtually completely eliminated, so that everything could be devoted to the system that would count votes cast much faster. Moving on to the threats, the biggest and most controversial of these are hacker attacks, the online voting system would have to be incredibly well secured which is very difficult to achieve. Just convincing people to use this system would take a lot of time, many people would probably think that such a system is not safe and someone can change the number of votes depending on their needs.
ReplyDeleteI realize that electronic progress is unavoidable, but what if you lose your phone? I'm not fully convinced of digital voting, because I don't trust the systems enough. After all, it sometimes happens that someone stole someone's data or broke into a bank. What about the digital voting? It could happened! However, I am aware that the rules of traditional voting could also be broken.
ReplyDeleteCertainly more citizens could take part in digital voting, particulary disabled people and the old ones, especially in these times of pandemic, when some are afraid to leave their homes. And what about older people who are not so advanced in the new technology?
I like this form of voting and I believe that the traditional one is already outdated and all progressive countries should strive for this. The first time in my life when I really wanted to vote in the presidential elections in my country, I could not do this because of the huge queue at the consulate. People had to stand for half a day and many didn't have opportunity to vote before the polling stations closed. In many countries, systems of online government, online ID-s and passports appear or already exist, and I wonder why a unified online voting system hasn't been introduced yet. It will be much more convenient and faster, which will significantly increase the voter turnout, since in many countries it ranges from 30 to 50 percent. I'm not sure about elderly people, since many of them will not have such an opportunity for various reasons, but I also don't think that it'll be better for them to go somewhere to the polling station and stand there in a long line. I think the best solution would be to introduce online voting, but also keep the opportunity to do it in the polling station (in the same online way) for those who can't do it on their own at home. And about of security, I think that breaking the system and falsifying the results will be much more difficult than just putting false bulletins in the box.
ReplyDeleteI think online voting will be more popular in near future. It will be a major help for old and disabled people. Also it will speed up counting process. But to do it, itn need to be secure. Probably that's the main issue why it's not popular as it can be. In our geographical neighbourhood as I remember Estonia provide such possibility, and almost half of voters used online voting system. True it took eight years to convince people to use that form of voting but in meantime they worked to improve security aspects as well.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion online voting is controversial subject specially today when we can heard recently about hacker attacks and stealing data from banks, companies etc. I think this is the future of democracy online voting but we have to wait for better security and regulation. I hope this will be soon and people will no longer fear this kind of voting.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion online voting is very convenient and innovative way to reach more people and encourage them to vote. For sure it gives people with disabilities a new way to vote and makes voting easier for all, but it should be very secured and whole process of online voting have to be analyzed and properly implemented. In my opinion there's also could be a traditional way for those who doens't want to go digital for some reasons.
ReplyDeleteOnline voting would be great. I think that if online voting would be possible in Poland the attendence on them would be much higher.
ReplyDeleteIt is a great way for people with disabilities and even people who live abroad to vote. Especially in COVID situation the cost of preparing online voting would be equal to printing papers to elections that didn't happen. I hope in the future it is going to be an option in our country.
After watching the video, I have huge doubts. In my opinion, remote voting should be reserved only for people with diffrent disabilities. I believe that the world we are live in is very technologically advanced. Some people will be able to use it for evil purposes. The current government in the USA or Poland is able to manipulate. It is not a democratic system, no more unfortunately. As a citizen, I would feel like my online vote could be manipulated, by propose. I thing that rules should last how it is. How do you guys think?
ReplyDeleteI think digital voting is our future. In my opinion it is a form that makes it easier for all people to vote, however only if everyone, especially older people, knows how to do it. It is possible that those people may require some help, as digital voting involves identity confirmation which can be problematic for some people. Yet I think a well-thought-out idea with the best security system shall be successful.
ReplyDeleteOn 25 October, local elections were held across Ukraine. The only way to vote was to come out to the polls. It was one of the worst voter turnouts in the history of Ukraine. There was around 35%.
ReplyDeleteAnd the presidential election was in the USA a few days later. The 2020 Election Set a Record for Voter Turnout. There were a lot of different ways to vote: come out to the polls, via their computer or mobile phone, or by post. This is a good example to show that other ways of voting aren`t a bad idea.
I understand that this is the varying importance of these elections. I am confident that digitalization such things as elections is necessary. And the sooner, the better.
Online voting is a powerful tool and should be available in every high-tech country. Of course, this carries many risks, such as hacking attacks or data leaks. However, it seems to me that online voting has more advantages than stationary voting as we know it today because we do not know whether people count our vote well and whether the cards we voted on had the right stamps on them. Of course, not everyone knows the technology and can use it, therefore online voting would have to be properly prepared by the country's authorities.
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ReplyDeleteRemote voting using a computer or mobile phone should be more common than it is. In times when virtual money transactions are normal. Hardly anyone is afraid to buy online. The banking systems have been so refined that it is very difficult to break them. I think a well-designed voting system could help more than harm something that is the main concern of its introduction. Fear of fraud. The problem is who will supervise the construction of such a system and who will manage it later.