The Pathetic State of Internet Voting in the USA

Why doesn’t Internet voting have a massive following in the US, like it should?

The anti-Internet voting special interests have created a Moral Panic about it in the US. (I explain how they did it in chapters one and five, Internet Voting Now.) Those of us who see the potential for democratic reform in Internet voting can only try to chip away at the security fears they have engendered. That’s what I’ve been trying to do with this blog and my other writings.

I am not alone. The guys who wrote reviews of my book at amazon.com are strong supporters of Internet voting. Indeed, the book review pages at Amazon.com give an excellent insight into who populates the separate camps. See, for example, my review of the newest anti-Internet voting propaganda tract, Broken Ballots (Don't forget to click yes if you like my review.) Take a look at the other “reviews” and comments. Nearly all the members of the opposition special interest groups are there. In fact, they are so well funded that they can even afford to have Rush Holt represent them in Congress and recommend their book. David Jefferson is their public face. The Verified Voting Foundation is their propaganda machine. They have a paid full time staff.

Advocates of Internet voting have a very modest presence on the web. Besides my blog there are:

Cyber the Vote

The League of Internet Voters on Face Book

And this FB page, too! Internet Voting Now

Welcome to this newer voice, at the iVote Face Book page.  Here you will find the wise statement that, and I paraphrase, Internet voting can make the voting process more simplified, convenient, and accessible to all citizens of the United States. Votes will be cast for our future leaders from, break rooms, coffee shops, libraries, living rooms, anywhere, and everywhere. By its convenience alone, Internet voting will empower every voter more than ever before in US history.

Voting in the United States today is an inconvenient, confusing, and time-consuming process. This process is, and has been, a barrier to many who want to vote. There are over 207 million eligible voters today, of which only 56.8% were able to vote during the last presidential election, and 37.8% during the last non-presidential election. More votes were cast for the last American Idol (97.5M) than were for our last President (69.4M), because it was simpler.

The voices of citizens stationed overseas, traveling abroad, or those unable to take a day off work, cannot be heard under our current voting process. An absentee ballot helps, but is also inconvenient. Technology exists today that can provide our citizens the opportunity to participate in our democracy, and vote online, no mater where they are on the planet.

I endorse this statement 100%! I also endorse, with equal passion, this explanation of how US presidential elections can be organized around Internet voting so that the voters, and not the two-party system elites, have complete election power. Also, see the comments to that article by me and iVote.

Pathetically, except for a limited use in Arizona,* NO states will be using Internet voting for the 2012 election.  Friends of Democracy! Don't be swayed by a Moral Panic ignited by nothing more than scary stories w/o science. Read. Think. And demand Internet voting from your state's Secretary of State.

William J. Kelleher, Ph.D.
Email: Internetvoting@gmail.com
Twitter: wjkno1

Author of Internet Voting Now!
Kindle edition
In paper

*The West Virginia legislature did not allocate the funds needed to renew that state's exemplary 2010 Internet voting program for its overseas military.  According to the AZ SoS, to use Arizona’s secure ballot upload system, the overseas military voter must have received a user ID and password from their local election official.