Why don't we vote on the computer?

Electronic voting against the classic.

The Elections (ang. Those are democratic forms of determining an individual or group to lead an official task. Treating elections as useful, this method of finding the mass representative has survived since the XVII century.

The classic voting process begins with a member/group proposal and ends with his appointment as the voice of the people. Among these two fundamental steps, however, there are procedures that in certain situations make this process difficult to follow, despite the importance of exiting to the polls. Worldwide, reducing the number of voters is likely to be caused by inadequate weather, the ability to get out, the distance and poor infrastructure conditions to the polling station, the procrastinated age; the poor health situation, the fear of voterging, the lack of interest in political issues, and many other reasons.

Most of these triggers could be annihilated if passed by classic voting on electronics. Often, polls (ang) are used as part of an analysis of a phenomenon because of simplifying the work and preservation of time. Polls). On the other hand, online voting is also used in cases where the need to position a member/group at the top of the list (for example, music players, international competitions, etc).

But in spite of the development of technology, seeing it as a safe form, few countries in the world have practiced it, or practice the electronic voting process, whether in national or local elections, because this process has faced three major technological challenges that make it impossible or difficult:

1. The lack of cyber security.
2. Risking privacy of vote; anonymity. The ballot must be anonymous.
3. The need for strict oversight of the process as a whole.

One of the few countries in the world that managed to overcome these challenges is Estonia, where it became the first state to offer online voting in local elections in 2005. While in the 2013 elections, 20% of the votes have gathered in that form.

Massive voting in the electronic system; how does the e-vote system function? Estonian voters completed this civic duty from their home. They succeeded in using a state card containing a secure encryption chip. The voter uses this card attached to a secret pin to lock on the election server. After selecting the preferred candidate, users need cards to carry out the digital signature.

Thus, voting is achieved. Voters can use an app on their smart phones to prove that the vote is successfully registered. The particular advantage of this system is that, in order to reduce the likelihood that participants have been forced to vote without their will, they are allowed to vote whenever they want, but only the last vote will be counted. After the election ended in Estonia, a team of experts independent of the field of computer security joined in examining this Estonian voting system. The problem is that anyone with internet access, especially interstaters, criminal groups, can start attacking, often, without being noticed.

1. Alex Haldermann, professor of computer science at Michigan University, one of the members of this team, said he and the team recreated this system in their engineering laboratory. They got the source code, the client's current software and made the full security analysis to verify the possibility of the attacks. They simulated possible attacks on two main points: The voters' computer and central servers. They noted that the voters' computer was lightly vulnerable by Malware (Software malicious, which is intended to damage or destroy the computer system). Malware was working in the background, so recording voters' secret drinking. Also, the servers were not very reliable. The attack on the server was used by the Trojan Software in equipment, which election officials use to operate other servers. This device could be infected by an internal installation of the Trojan Malware or by the attackers, who exploit these system weaknesses.

However, electronic voting is largely commendable. This relates to its adaptability in procedures and with its priorities against the existing classic vote. Among these priorities are highlighted:

1. Reducing state spending; employing thousands of people in carrying out tasks during the election process; targing ballot papers, letters, printing.
2. The ability to improve mistakes; voters can go back until they give the final approval.
3. Increasing voter turnout due to simple procedure.
4. Failure to anticipate the need for election configuration. The same system can be used whenever the country goes to the polls, of course only by changing candidate names.
5. E-mail notice, sending to voters who haven't voted, election information.
6. The random sequence of candidate names, which cannot afford to prioritize them on the list.
7. The immediate release of the results, as the system closes. In the near future, like the computerisation of many basic processes, voting will take place. Unless by then, the idea of voting may not have disappeared.

It says: Edona Haziray

October 2017.