While today, March 4th, marks Super Mega Ultra Elephantine Tuesday Part Deux, this also marks the 4 year anniversary of the first use of internet voting for a binding general election, in Estonia no less. And while there are numerous security concerns with the use of supposedly secure internet voting systems, let’s not forget that our voting systems have severe and exploitable (and sometimes electronic) flaws as well. So while I’m not one to jump the gun and demand an instant implementation of even newer voting machines and processes without proper diligence in examining their safety and efficacy, I am saying that the current systems in use are likely not the ones of the future. So while we currently work out problems with pencil smudges, dimples and chads, magnetism, and hackers, let’s not simply rest to fix these problems, but to also innovate and determine how to build an even better voting system, perhaps even from scratch. 

The use of internet voting is incredibly exciting to me. If (and a big if) we can develop a safe and secure method of voting that doesn’t infringe on one’s privacy and can’t be exploited to allow for the sale of one’s vote, we could develop a system allowing for virtually everyone to vote. So these big caveats require big solutions. Let’s start solving them now.