What's stopping the US from having online elections?

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: dullard
Security and cost are significant problems. However another significant problem is that online elections will favor one group of voters (generally young, educated, and not poor) over other groups of voters. As it is everyone must (a) get off their butts and travel the couple of blocks to vote or (b) take the time and effort to request an absentee ballot. Thus lazy people generally don't vote. Suddenly switching to a method that will have many more lazy voters and a lot fewer eldery voters can be a huge swing in votes that neither political party is willing to risk.

Note: lazy vs elderly is just an example. I could have gone with rich with computers vs poor without them. Or any other potential huge voter swings that may exist.

Rich people probably know more about the politics than somebody illiterate working at wendy's anyway, so their vote should count more

We should have basic skill-testing questions prior to allowing votes. IE, if you can't even list off a couple of key positions of the main candidates then not only can you not vote, but you get demoted to slave.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Rich people probably know more about the politics than somebody illiterate working at wendy's anyway, so their vote should count more

We should have basic skill-testing questions prior to allowing votes. IE, if you can't even list off a couple of key positions of the main candidates then not only can you not vote, but you get demoted to slave.

I won't comment on the first statement. The second is a wish I've always had (well except for the slave part). A VERY simple 10 question quiz that asks the politician's most basic campaign promisses. If you fail it, your vote doesn't count. But that is a dream world that will never occur.