Electronic Voting

Electronic Voting Name Institution Introduction Electronic voting also known as E-voting can be defined as the use of electronic process in the verification of voters, casting of votes and tallying. In simple terms, e-voting is the use of ICT in the entire voting process (Volkamer, 2009). It entails the use electronic voting machines (EVMs) in polling stations. This is whereby voters cast their votes on a sensitive screen or on a computer’s keyboard. It can also involve the use of Optical Scanning Machines (OSM) to scan the ballot papers before votes are tallied electronically. This is done while the ballot papers are still present for a manual recount. In some cases, the voter may be asked to confirm decisions before accepting the vote. This method is commonly practiced in USA and Philippines. This paper discusses electronic voting by focusing on how wide spread it is, the costs associated with the process, the advantages, and disadvantages of voting electronically. How widespread is the practice of E-voting The practice of electronic voting has been viewed by many nations as an important tool for curbing rigging. This has forced many nations to adopt electronic voting. Belgium is considered to be the pioneer of electronic voting owing to the fact that it made its first trial in 1991. Australia is another country that uses electronic voting. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) was presented to the government in 1992 and amended in 2000, but was first put into practice in 2001 (Volkamer, 2009). They have since adopted this form of e-voting, which has been considered a success. Austria also uses e-voting because their e-voting system was approved by the Austrian federal council of Ministers in 2003. They performed a pilot project through the use of a student union election at WU Vienna University. USA adopts both polling station e-voting and remote e-voting. In 2004, the electronic voting system had an effect on one third of American votes (Alvarez, 2010). This was not a total success, which forced Americans to adopt both polling station electronic voting and remote e-voting. Consequently, this concept gave rise to the most efficient electronic voting system in the world. Other countries that use electronic voting include United Kingdom, Canada, Netherlands, India, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Norway, Romania, Estonia, and France. African countries have also adopted this form of voting with Ghana, South Africa, and recently Kenya being the African countries that use the electronic voting system. Implementing Electronic Voting in Idaho There have always been integrity issues in the election process of many countries and states. Perhaps one of the reasons for issues of integrity is the lack of the electronic voting system. This is because those who are vying for top seats always intend to manipulate elections for their own benefit. Electronic voting is more recommendable because it brings confidence in voting system. Though this may prove to be expensive, it is worth taking the risk because the long term benefits will prove to be cheap and free of errors (Gritzalis, 2002). It is notable that Idaho lacks electronic voting and should adopt the system because it improves the integrity of the election process. The costs of electronic voting The costs of purchasing Electronic Voting Machines are high because most of the countries prefer importing readymade machines to investing in their ICT departments. I...