All,
Bill Gates - Voting - Biometrics -
Question: Can you foresee a future in which encryption technology and new legislation will make online voting for presidential elections a reality? If so, how will this change perceptions of the Net and politics? — Christian Oppel, Cologne, Germany uzs84g@ibm.rhrz.unibonn.de
Answer: Encryption is not the problem when it comes to online voting. The problem is one of authentication, knowing that the voter is who he or she says she is. Citizens in the United States, at least, don't have a password they use in their dialog with the government. When you, the citizen, telephone an agency, the bureaucrat on the line doesn't know for sure who you are. When you send e-mail to an agency, you may or may not be who you say you are.
When you transact business on paper, there is an authentication mechanism — your signature — which is hardly foolproof but works pretty well in practice. The signature is the authentication method generally used for voting in person or with a paper absentee ballot.
Authentication online typically takes the form of passwords today, although biometric devices such as thumbprint and voiceprint readers will become important. Once online authentication improves sufficiently, governments will be able to make it easy for you to vote from wherever you happen to be. Voter participation levels, and the knowledgeability of voters, are both likely to rise.
Today, I use e-mail to ask for advice from trusted people when it comes to casting ballots in races in which I don't know enough about the candidates. I seek help because I don't want to be an under-informed voter. The Internet will make it much easier for me and everybody else who uses it to be well informed. Election guides will describe the positions of the candidates and list who has endorsed them — from an environmental group to a political party to a friend who has shared his opinion. Being an informed voter will be easy beyond belief.
deseretnews.com
Rick |
