As i believe all the cool kids are saying.
#Scotland is (sigh) considering introducing electronic voting. Speaking as someone who helped evaluate English #evoting pilots a decade ago, I think it remains a well-intentioned but terrible idea.https://t.co/meiS6RCGVT— Tim Atkinson (@Magpiemoth) December 20, 2017
You can dance around the technical detail (and many have done so) but the first key challenge is informed voter confidence. The geek community in the US and UK e.g. @OpenRightsGroup have been pretty sceptical about real existing #evoting as opposed to some platonic ideal.— Tim Atkinson (@Magpiemoth) December 20, 2017
Without the reasonably well informed giving it the benefit of the doubt, what chance does #evoting have with a public deeply sceptical of politicians and companies' integrity?— Tim Atkinson (@Magpiemoth) December 20, 2017
More fundamentally, it's a techno-fix for a 'democracy problem'. Solving this isn't just about making voting easier (although that's still a good idea), it's about addressing the reasons why people don't vote and improving the number and quality of opportunities to participate.— Tim Atkinson (@Magpiemoth) December 20, 2017
PS. Here is a link to summary findings from the Electoral Commission's evaluation of 2007 pilot schemes including e-voting. The EC doesn't have a remit to cover the big existential questions like the ones above, but the summary (not written by me, for the record) is still pretty insightful on the issues with the pilots, as well as what would need to happen if Scotland or anyone were determined to give e-voting a credible go.
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