Hsu Yung-Ming's (
Since the Internet can be used for banking, it seems reasonable to suppose that it can be used for voting. But there is a major difference between banking and voting. The requirement for secrecy in voting precludes the measures used to prevent fraud in Internet banking. Since it should not be possible to find out how someone voted, there is no way of discovering whether a vote was cast fraudulently.
Moreover, the Internet is an inherently insecure system. Frequently one reads about yet another virus or worm which has attacked the Internet and sabotaged computer data. If voting takes place over the Internet, hackers will undoubtedly launch attacks specifically aimed at rigging or sabotaging the vote, and it will be virtually impossible to detect them in time. Detection after the fact is, in any case, too late as the vote has, by then, already happened.
Voting security in the ballot box system relies on many pairs of eyes overseeing every stage in the process, from the casting of the vote, through the count, to the final result. If voting happens electronically, there is no way for a layman to observe the process. The computer system is a 'black box' in which votes are cast and a result magically comes out. How can anyone be sure that the result bears any relation at all to the votes which were cast? How can a "recount" be meaningful when it will only produce exactly the same result as it did the first time?
Voting from home sounds convenient, but it removes the assurance that everyone's vote is a genuinely free choice. The supervised voting environment provided by the ballot box system ensures that everyone can cast their vote in secret, free from coercion or intimidation.
If voting happens in the home, you cannot be sure that a parent or an employer is not standing over the voter's shoulder ensuring that he votes the expected way. Nor is it even possible to know that someone's vote is being cast by that voter. Voter credentials in the form of PINs and passwords can easily be bought and sold. Allowing home voting gives the green light to all sorts of electoral malpractice which are at least very difficult under a properly-run election based on the ballot box.
Taiwan's voting procedures do seem to be rather inflexible and could be improved. But in doing so, it is important not to undermine the secrecy of the ballot, or security of the election process.
Alex Macfie
Taipei County
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