Boosting Low Turnout by Electronic Voting
By Park Kyu-tae
It is fair to say the importance of IT has been never been greater. In connection with governmental services in the last decade or so, there have been many legislative efforts to deregulate and abolish so many red tapes blocking the road to establishing an electronic government, and one must admit that some good progress has been made towards that goal.
In light of a strong IT environment, we now take for granted services like electronic banking and message exchanging via the Internet. This has been made possible through nationwide high-speed broadband networks, and we now should concentrate on creating applications for the nation.
The whole country is ready now for the April 15 general elections. Voting is a cardinal basis of democracy in action, a right and a duty of all citizens. However, the government needs to take strong measures to convince the whole nation of exercising that right.
It is a worldwide phenomenon that the voter turnout is getting lower and lower. In Korea the voter turnout for the 16th general election held on April 13, 2002, was 57.2 percent, lowest in Korean voting history, which was 6.7 percentage point lower than the previous record. Looking at the 16th presidential election in Dec. 19, 2002, the rate was measly 70.8 percent that was much lower than the average turnout of past presidential elections of 86.6 percent Statistics indicate that voters in their 50s have the highest ratio whereas people in their 20s and 30s and thirties are least likely to vote. The worst turnout ever was 18.8 percent for the by-election held on Aug. 12, 2002 in the Kijang Kap constituency in Pusan.
After more than a half century since the first general election in 1948, the general public has progressed. The populace have less time. They are more mobile and far less likely to reside and work in the same place as they did in 1950s and 60s when the current system took root. Moreover, young people are indifferent to politics and they are much doting of spending leisure time and get away from it all on that specially designated national holiday rather than going to the polls.
It is right time to start implementing e-voting systems in Korea and it will take for some time for the practical applications. Korea has one of the best class e-network in the world and software experts. The National Police Agency has AFIS or Automatic Fingerprint Identification Systems, a database of resident registration for every adult inhabitant in the country. The system is definitely the most advanced and the first of its kind in the world that contains personal photograph, gender, address, ten fingerprints and exclusive resident registration numbers for each person. The Residence ID card of belonging to each of us contains all data mentioned and a thumb fingerprint. The ID card verification is sufficient enough to identify the person by quintuple online checking of registration number, photo, address, fingerprint and gender by using online ID card readers, those are already available. In the meantime if microchipping ID cards are on hand then that would improve it even further. Furthermore, cell phone voting can also be implemented without much difficulty. If a PIN or personal identification number for the election is provided and delivered prior to the election date then security worries can be put to rest.
When new innovative systems are put in place the voters will not need to go to a specified kiosk. Voters may go anywhere in the country and even on the top of mountain courses, at military camps and on the battleships, airplanes, even in overseas consular offices and still would be able to vote. E-voting will be a simple hassle-free experience and there would not be too many young people evading their responsibility not sparing several minutes or so going into any village voting place or click their cell phones to vote. Imagine that right after 6 pm on the election day, all the returns are collected electronically and displayed on TV screens instantly. There would be no more vigilance to watch TV the whole night. We should live and enjoy the e-voting era.
The government should aim high for the e-democratic services and aim higher for the IT Korea. Do not be afraid to be the front-runner of a new technological realization.
In September 1975 the National Assembly house was newly opened and a brand-new mini computer for balloting was installed and all the push buttons were provided at each legislator’s desk. However, the Assembly never used it until recently saying that they have no regulation for voting by computer. It took almost 20 years to use the voting machine. It took a long while to be trained as e-democratic legislators.
Now the nation is in political quandary but we have to look forward to seeing a better e-democratic society. We have to get down to work as saying goes, a good goal begins from a well-prepared blue print and a starting is half the work done.
** The writer is a professor emeritus at Yonsei University. He is former chairman of the Korea Research Council for Industrial Science and Technology.
04-06-2004 18:41
times.hankooki.com
steve |
