Electronic Voting is SAFE with ezVote Online

by , 12/6/2018

Why Is Electronic Voting Safe with ezVote?

Electronic voting is a term that describes the groundbreaking technology and act of online voting by using electronic software and systems that are specially designed to enable people to cast votes through their computer, tablet or smartphone. Citizens of the US should be forward-thinking and open to this kind of modern election commissions. This article will be focused on explaining the advantages of online voting, but also its drawbacks and risks. However, certain electronic voting platforms such as ezVote have you covered if you are worried about security risks. Are you wondering if online voting is safe? Can we rely on technology to vote? Is digital democracy possible? Read on to find out the answers to these delicate questions.

Benefits of Internet Voting

The biggest and most obvious benefit of electronic online voting is its convenience. Without doubts, online voting has the potential to make this process easier and more accessible to people all across the US. Many people are prevented from voting in person due to family or work obligations, illness and similar. Since Internet voting allows the electors to vote from the comfort of their home, we should expect a significant improvement of voter engagement, education and registration as well as increased voting participation. With the possibility of voting from any location (possibly even in another country), the cost of organizing elections is much lower. There’s no need to create multiple access points and polling stations, and hiring staff that will supervise the voting. People with severe medical conditions, disabilities, social anxiety, those serving in the military, living abroad and similar would finally have a chance to contribute to the democratic process. Individuals who are visually or physically impaired often can’t vote without assistance. Internet voting would allow them to cast a ballot unassisted and afford more anonymity when voting. This is important because it improves the quality and the equality of the ballot.

As you know, young people avoid voting, but by using a modern on-line voting platform that is more appealing to them, we should expect an increase in their particular voting turnout as well. Young people aged 18 to 30 are the hardest to reach and engage in elections, but since they are familiar with the technology and are registered as the most frequent users of the internet, they would certainly become more engaged in this activity. Many students are unable to vote since they are studying in another countries. Internet voting would allow them to vote abroad. Online voting not only eliminates the need for transportation to remote polling stations but also allows voters to vote at any time and avoid standing in long lines.

When it comes to administration, online voting will produce faster and more accurate results. Conventional methods of counting votes are often criticized for making an error. Thanks to quality developed voting systems and software, elections can be organized and conducted quickly and easily. Ballot tabulation is instantaneous, and human errors are eliminated. Lastly, a quality online voting system is much less expensive to create, manage, and socialize than traditional paper ballots. Many citizens are afraid that someone will tamper with online elections. While this may be possible, developing reliable electronic election platform mitigates election tampering. E-voting systems have the ability to create better-informed electors by embedding additional information about the candidates directly into the ballot.

Risks of Online Voting

The most prominent risk of online voting is related to security. Since electronic voting requires an internet connection, cyber criminals and hackers may attack the software with malicious viruses and tamper the elections. The problem doesn’t lie in the security of the central electronic voting software; it lies in the personal computer of the voter. When you are using computers that are unprotected, the maintenance of ballot secrecy becomes a severe issue. Another problem with internet voting, except for virus attacks, is technical matters such as power outages, server crashes, malfunctions in Internet connectivity and similar. Since these problems could affect the recording and storage of votes, it is important to consider its effects fully.

Citizens with average or higher income will have no problems voting online. However, people who have lower income and live in rural areas that have poor internet connections are at a disadvantage. Even though it may sound a little bit absurd, around 20% of citizens in the US don’t have access to internet connection. 2% choose not to use the internet at all. So, in total, we have 22% of people who can’t vote online. This fact can jeopardize the equality of one’s vote and create potential socio-economic divides in the country.

Lastly, Internet voting presents an excellent opportunity for fraud, coercion and vote-buying. If we are to vote online, someone can take over our identity and vote on our behalf, therefore committing a fraud. Intimidation and vote buying is committed when a voter is persuaded to vote for someone in a certain way. Everything we mentioned could severely affect the ballot integrity and outcome of the elections. We also have to mention the voter education as a possible concern. Even though the system of electronic voting is present to the public for a few years, many people aren’t familiar with it at all. This means if we are to switch to e-voting we have to invest money and resources to educate the public about online voting possibilities. Without proper marketing and education, electors will unlikely engage by themselves.

Turn Every Risk into Advantage with ezVote

The risks we mentioned mostly apply to public political elections, but they don’t apply to ezVote Online. This online voting platform is mostly used when it comes to elections for churches, schools, homeowners associations (HOA's), country clubs, golf clubs, investment clubs, corporations and similar. However, even if our system would be used for political elections, there would be no need not to rely on it. We provide auditable, transparent, secure and fast results that will not only increase the engagement of your voters and voting turnout, but also turn every risk of voting into your advantage. One of the biggest risks we mentioned is related to security of your personal computer or smartphone. However, ezVote has everything prepared even to protect your own computer. The ezVote personnel and IT professionals have created a unique, comprehensive guide that will help you conduct a successful election every time. In this comprehensive guide, you will not only find tips to better balloting but also practical advice on all aspects of the election process, including making your internet connection more secure and stronger.

In a case of technical issues, such as power failure, server crashes and similar, we host our servers we a service that offers stand-by servers, nightly backups, and power generators that ensure your election is not jeopardized. If the process of casting your vote fails because of these technical issues, the software will register it and notify the administrator about it. Voter authentications minimizes fraudulent ballot hijacking.

As you can see, ezVote is the smart choice for conducting your on-line elections. Let us help you manage your organization better by providing you quality and customized online voting solutions.


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