Will voting by e-mail become a reality in the elections of the future? The issue is under
serious scrutiny in a number of countries, including the United States. E-mail voting has
become steadily more common in surveys, contests, and opinion polls. In Great Britain,
e-mail voting has been used in non-governmental elections, such as the election of
corporate governing bodies and student government representatives at universities. In a
number of nations, such as New Zealand, Japan, Sweden, and Switzerland, taskforces
are at work in an effort to identify the pros and cons of government elections by e-mail.
Back in the U.S.A., legislators in Colorado are considering giving e-mail and fax a try-
out with the voters.
2 Proponents of online voting argue that it might increase voter turnout, which has been
steadily decreasing in many democracies (including ours) for years. Advocates also
point out that online voting will be convenient and that it will probably appeal to younger
voters—the group in which turnout tends to be especially low at present.
4 Finally, the possibility of online voting raises a number of social issues. For example,
how fair would such a system be for voters lacking Internet access or technical know-
how? How confident would the public feel in the integrity of such a nontraditional
system? Would voters be able to feel that a vote sent on line is as secure as one
marked on paper or registered by a voting machine at a polling place?
3 More skeptical observers emphasize issues of security and stress that additional
research is needed. They point out that online voting might trigger large-scale fraud,
with eligible voters who are indifferent to an election’s result selling their authenticating
credentials, such as passwords or ID numbers. Skeptics also point to such potential
problems as the Internet’s susceptibility to viruses and “denial of service attacks”
caused by hackers and power outages.
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5 In short, the future of online voting is up in the air. In the interim, it will be interesting to
watch the arguments on all sides unfold.
1. 
The writer's position on the issue of online voting in government elections might best be described as