Online Voting

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frankv

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#2102098 5-Oct-2018 12:18

sbiddle:

What happens when the me me me me me millennial generation all decide to vote online for the fun of it picking some random person that their friends all talked about on Facebook just for lols? .. And then that person gets elected and are useless?

I know it's not really that different to people voting like sheep for the same GWRC people (maybe they won't now they realise they're all useless), but there are unintended social consequences.

The current system doesn't preclude useless people from being elected anyway; do some research on John Kirk and Alamein Kopu.

When people have real power, they will take voting seriously. Currently, it doesn't matter very much who your mayor our District/City councillors are, so there is huge apathy about local goverment elections. National politics aren't very different; a choice between two not very different packages of policies, and a choice between people selected by political parties.

Rikkitic

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#2102112 5-Oct-2018 13:01

frankv:

And, what can I say, Switzerland has had good luck with that for longer than New Zealand, or indeed the current British Parliamentary system, has existed.

I like the Swiss system and I like the idea of public referendums on important issues, but it cannot be ignored that (thanks to the referendum system) women only got the vote in national elections in 1971 and the last canton ('state') didn't agree until 1991. In Switzerland cantonial elections are at least as important as federal ones so 1991 is actually the date that all women got the vote there.

No doubt there will be some who will whisper that this was not necessarily a bad thing, but the reason it took so long for women to gain full citizenship rights is because men didn't like the idea and the Swiss system of voting enabled them to block it for so long.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

Rikkitic

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#2102118 5-Oct-2018 13:08

frankv:

When people have real power, they will take voting seriously. Currently, it doesn't matter very much who your mayor our District/City councillors are, so there is huge apathy about local goverment elections. National politics aren't very different; a choice between two not very different packages of policies, and a choice between people selected by political parties.

This is an interesting point. I very much wonder (with many others) whether Trump's praesidis horribilis will actually end up doing the world a favour by causing a revitalisation of voter engagement and democratic participation in America. If nothing else, you can certainly say he has given that poor country a real choice.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

Delphinus

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#2102199 5-Oct-2018 14:53

sbiddle:

What happens when the me me me me me millennial generation all decide to vote online for the fun of it picking some random person that their friends all talked about on Facebook just for lols? .. And then that person gets elected and are useless?

Already plenty of useless people in govt/local govt. I've seen it first hand. People in council who just block absolutely everything for the sake of it.

SaltyNZ

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#2102202 5-Oct-2018 15:08

OK, we'll call that a wash: online voting is no more likely to herald the advent of Polly McPoliticianFace than any other method.

iPad Pro 11" + iPhone 15 Pro Max + 2degrees 4tw!

These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

mattwnz

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#2102207 5-Oct-2018 15:20

sbiddle:

Handsomedan:

I think a lack of online voting is a key contributor to low voter turnout in local body elections.

Postal votes belong in a bygone era and a lack of voting booths leaves people with chronic voter apathy.

If you could log in and click for your preferred candidates, I believe we'd have a far better turnout and more activity from the voting public in what is a very important process.

People don't vote because they're a) too lazy or b) don't care about democracy.

Online voting can't solve either of those issues.

Or (c), people are disillusioned, especially with local body politics. councilors are voted in who promise the world, but ultimately councils are run by the council staff, who are not voted in.

mdav056

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#2102518 6-Oct-2018 15:11

I like voting in person on paper at polling booths with a Big Marker Pen, but it could be made a better experience. I was on sausage-cooking duty at the school my daughter went to, which was a polling place. Other goodies were available too. This was in John Key's electorate, and he turned up ----but he didn't buy a sausage (which validated my vote). I wonder if Simon would?

What I'm working towards is polling places with FREE sausages and other goodies, if you can show you voted (stamped hand?). Maybe a bouncy castle, make it a family day out! A fun time! Happy democracy!

I suppose that would be sort of possible with online voting, though the social aspect would be entirely missing, and the worry about security/hacking would be present... Maybe 2 lines of Lotto when you voted? Hmmm.

gml

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