British E-Voting Pilots Announced

rimberg writes "The Department for Constitutional Affairs has announced it is going to trial Electronic voting using the internet and/or telephone. Bridget Prentice, Elections Minister at the department said 'We need to make sure that people can vote in more convenient ways consistent with a modern lifestyle. [...] More and more people, and particularly young people, are using the internet everyday. We need to see if we can use this to encourage people even more to participate in the democratic process.' The Open Rights Group (Think British EFF) have responded by saying 'E-voting threatens the integrity of our elections and we oppose its use in our democracy.'"

mail?

[Anonymous Coward]

Vote By Mail has been a huge success here in Oregon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postal_voting/ [wikipedia.org]

Voting is pointless as it is, so let's just do it.

[Peter Cooper]

We don't really get a voice anyway in our two-party (of any power) state. No proportional representation, no referenda on issues (despite being promised them, for, say, the Euro), and a political system that's gamed to work in one way whoever gets into power.

Let's face it.. we've reached a reasonably happy status quo with the current system and nothing too shocking happens under it. The problems we're having now are little different to those of ten or twenty years ago, and the average Brit has just as little say on matters as they ever have. This has led to a disillusioned populace that isn't really THAT interested in voting. I don't vote either, because it a) would have no effect, and b) all the parties look the same and are likely to lie and change their policies once they get in anyway (like Labour did).

Perhaps the dangers of electronic voting are worth it because our current system is so ineffectual. The room for abuse of electronic voting is no worse than the abuse of the entire system of government going on now.

Re:Increased turnout

[VJ42]

I live in a Tory\Liberal marginal seat, so a vote for NuLabour[sic] is as much use as a vote for The Monster raving loony party [omrlp.com] Fortunately my political views are no where near those of the Labour party, but the joys of the first past the post system are not lost on me. Instead of this pointless move, why aren't they doing something useful, like introducing the single transferable vote system. That would re-engage more people than this gimmick.

Re:Increased turnout

[Nuskrad]

Politically, I'm closest to the LibDems, I think. I don't find them particularly inspiring, though. Lembit Opik's recent antics are an embarrassment.

What exactly is an embarrasment, and furthermore, what does his private life (which isn't even sordid compared to most politicians, for anyone not following the story, he's going out with a not very good Romanian popstar) have to do with his politics, or the politics of the party? This is what is wrong with modern politics, it's all tabloids and spin. It's a system that allows you to impeach a president for extramarital affairs, but not for sending thousands of men to their deaths fighting a war started on false premises.