Do you think a voting app would be useful?

[Yvaelle]

The average human isn't intelligent enough to make something as important as this viable. Especially since bad people coukd spoof a fake app and people would believe it

This is pretty simple to fix though, that's called election fraud and/or treason (attempting to electronically control the election is, in effect, a cyber-coup). A) punish them as such, B) control access to the Android/Apple market.

A voting app wouldn't be foolproof by any means, but there is no way I believe it would be less vulnerable than the existing paper solution - it would just have better transparency to when it does occur (so we might see it more as a result, where before we would have no way to detect it). Further, all studies of electoral voting fraud have indicated it virtually never occurs (precisely because it's such a serious crime, without a direct payoff).

[Shadowspire]

Man you guys are negative.

First off I'm not saying the app would remove the current way of voting, but it is another option.
Second, this isn't some tv contest where you vote however many times you want, that's why the steps to show legitimate citizen ship and activation is done in person. You get one vote either through app or person, once you do one or the other you're locked out.

I'm not making the app, but hacking on such a scale is not easy to do secretly like some of you seem to think. And yes, while it is a temporary solution to a major problem it is a step in the right direction.

[May90]

Except the whole thing where you can actually count the papers and observe them being counted, something that is not possible for electronic voting.

I think you underestimate modern system security. It doesn't take too much funding to make a system nearly impenetrable for fraud/hacking, and such a system definitely will be more reliable that the current one, when it is not explicitly recorded how the votes are counted. With a decent online system, everyone could see the list of all people who have voted, and any case of fraud would be easy to detect and fix.

[Utinil]

OR, CO and WA handle voting differently, the ballots are mailed by default and there is no physical place to go vote. As a result, voter turnout increased.

This is only partially true in CO. For Presidential elections we go to physical voting locations (although you can get absentee ballots) for "smaller" voting cycles we receive ballots mailed to us by default. I have voted in four different districts in CO (obviously in different elections) and I have never had to wait more than 20 minutes in order to cast my vote (yes, I know anecdotal) and that doesn't seem to bad. If someone isn't willing to commit that little time during the 14 hours the poles are open, then I don't want that person voting.

[tj119]

Terriblr idea, plain and simple.

[TrumpIsPresident]

VOTING APP IS RACIST!!@#$!#!

We cant even get people to get off their asses and stand in line for half an hour to get their free government issued ID card without legions of SJWs crying racist.

Now you want voters to have to own smart phones?

Pfff... how are they going to afford that?

Oh wait, let me guess, the phones are free right?

/sarcasm

Sorry I'm not trying to be rude I'm just projecting what would be the inevitable response from the Left.

[quras]

Yeah, which is why I don't do online banking, wire money through the internet, or put in personal information on computers, because MANIPULATION!

It's why I don't. There is nothing so secure these days it can't be hacked. Everything from banks to PCs, to government agencies

A voting app? I hope there never that stupid.

[Noradin]

That is a very, very bad idea.

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I think you underestimate modern system security. It doesn't take too much funding to make a system nearly impenetrable for fraud/hacking, and such a system definitely will be more reliable that the current one, when it is not explicitly recorded how the votes are counted. With a decent online system, everyone could see the list of all people who have voted, and any case of fraud would be easy to detect and fix.

How do you (as in some random guy of the streets) know that the system you use is secure?
Do you need to understand the code? Or do you trust someone else that everything is all right? Why not let that person vote for you then?

Even if a lot of people checked the code, how do you know the code they saw is the one currently running on the device you are using? Do you think they will let you check while the voting is ongoing? Do you think the trust you to do that? Or do you trust someone else that everything is all right? Why not let that person vote for you then?

Same goes for every device involved. In the end, if you use a computer or server for things like this there is someone responsible to make sure everything works how it is supposed to and you have to trust that person.

Do you trust them not to take note who votes for whom?

Current voting systems in proper, working democracies are intenitionally set up in a way as to spread responsibility for counting the votes as thin as possible to reduce the risc of anyone gaining the power to cast votes for others or to know the votes of others.

Using an app to cast political votes is a terrible idea.

[Deleted]

That is a very, very bad idea.

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How do you (as in some random guy of the streets) know that the system you use is secure?
Do you need to understand the code? Or do you trust someone else that everything is all right? Why not let that person vote for you then?

Even if a lot of people checked the code, how do you know the code they saw is the one currently running on the device you are using? Do you think they will let you check while the voting is ongoing? Do you think the trust you to do that? Or do you trust someone else that everything is all right? Why not let that person vote for you then?

Same goes for every device involved. In the end, if you use a computer or server for things like this there is someone responsible to make sure everything works how it is supposed to and you have to trust that person.

Do you trust them not to take note who votes for whom?

Current voting systems in proper, working democracies are intenitionally set up in a way as to spread responsibility for counting the votes as thin as possible to reduce the risc of anyone gaining the power to cast votes for others or to know the votes of others.

Using an app to cast political votes is a terrible idea.

Reading your post makes me think voting app is actually a good idea. I mean there is a difference between showing concern and being completely paranoid, this doesn't help your argument at all.

Also do you actually believe this paper voting invented thousands of years ago is impenetrable? is the best thing ever and can not be improved upon?

Some countries already adopted electronic voting, it's just a matter of time until we replace the stamp and paper completely and i'm fairly sure this can be made much more efficient and secure than the current system.

[Orlong]

So, ever voting period ppl take, or gloss about one issue in voting, not a lot of ppl can vote because work/school and as well the time limit to vote when in a large line so some just avoid voting in general. But what if there was a easier way to vote? And so what if voting was as easy as pulling out your phone out at certain points and picking those u want to elect, then u go about ur day.

I think this would work, and before speaking about voter fraud, there has constantly be beliefs that's is always a thing, there's already talks of that for this current campaign. I believe however that these methods would kind of help.

First get the app, duh.
Second, once u put in ur info that shows u are a legal citizen , the whole mambo jumbo.
You then go to your third and final step, go to your county,province,whatever where u register and have an official physically validate u are a human being and who u say u are, they'll then fully activate ur account and u can vote for everything from the smallest level of city council to president of the United States, of course at the designated times that is.

The polls open at 7AM and are open until 7 PM and and many places they are open until 8PM or 9PM. Nobody goes to school or work so many hours that they cant manage to go to a poll during those 12 to 4 hours. Any internet voting method whether it be an app or a website would be so open to fraud and hacking that you may as well not even vote. Anything from people giving out their credentials to someone else to vote to phishing attacks to steal credentials, to outright hacking the server would apply