A number of recent articles, like this one from Fortune magazine, have been discussing the many documented hacking attempts on our electronic voting system, especially by foreign entities. Needless to say, the Department of Homeland Security is doing what it can to prevent such malicious meddling.
But even our government’s security forces admit they cannot completely prevent damage from this constant and lawless activity. Does this mean we just have to accept the idea that a foreign country might influence an election? In fact, it does not. We should put in place an inexpensive, foolproof system that allows a voter simply to check if her/his vote was recorded and counted correctly. Voteword is one such system.
Consider for a moment that the recent technological history of this country has been characterized by users’ increasing power to investigate things themselves – from merchandise to hotels to schools and churches – and it becomes clear that checking our own vote should be on the list of important activities that we can scrutinize.
There’s a reason for giving this power to all of us, the people who are actually voting. It’s the same reason the fabric of our society works: we the people are ultimately responsible for the preservation of our democracy – not institutions at the highest level of our government. Let’s remember that and let’s demand to see our votes.
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