Do Electronic Voting Machines Improve the Voting Process?

Voter ID laws in the United States have begun to create controversy since the beginning of its adaptations in the early 2000’s. Voter ID laws in the United States is a law that requires U.S. citizens to have a special form of identification in order to vote in an election. The idea with Voter ID laws is that the state must make sure that the laws do not pose any sort of burden on the voters. These laws have been proposed in order to stop voting fraud. However, the institution of Voter ID laws have made trouble in states, including Texas, regarding to the various amount of identification requirements needed.

Getting to polling locations can be a hassle, especially for the disabled, the sick, and people without transportation. In addition, voting becomes even more difficult for

In 2002, with the intention of updating election technology, hampering voter fraud, and increasing faith in the electoral system, President George W. Bush signed into law the Help America Vote Act (Gerken 14). Since the implementation of this act, controversial voter identification laws have begun springing up all over the country. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, “thirty-one states require all voters to show ID before voting at the polls. In fifteen of these, the ID must include a photo of the voter; in the remaining sixteen, non-photo forms of ID are acceptable” (Voter Identification Requirements). In 2005 Indiana lawmakers passed one of the strictest voter identification laws in the country requiring voters

“legal precision” about what is constituted a vote. In due course, the candidates, nor the

As technology has evolved there have become more ways to cast a vote than ever before. Most people are familiar with the traditional way of

“Your vote is your voice as an American citizen. It's your opportunity to be heard, to hold elected officials accountable for their elections and to have a say in important issues that affect your community. On Election Day, every vote matters”. Anonymous

While the main purpose for voter ID is to eliminate fraud and corruption in the American voting system, it has brought with it consequences that discourage and even prohibit eligible voters to vote. The 2012 election, a vast number of state required a government-issued photo ID. Even the state Indiana required this even though “state GOP officials couldn 't provide a single instance of a voter committing the type of fraud the new ID law was supposed to stop” (Berman). Surprisingly, in Wisconsin, they will only except ID’s containing “a current address, birth date, signature and two-year expiration date” that so far

In 2008, the Supreme Court upheld Indiana’s law despite lack of evidence of voter fraud. In Texas, however, voter fraud is a real concern. In a column by Greg Abbott, the Texas Attorney General, he states, “In recent years, my office has secured more than 50 voter fraud convictions. Those include a woman who voted in place of her dead mother, a political operative who cast ballots for two people, and a city councilmember who registered foreign nationals to vote in an election decided by 19 votes. Voter fraud is hard to detect, so cases like these are just the tip of the iceberg.” Texas legislature believes that requiring photo identification is a simply way to prevent these fraud issues from occurring. Not everyone agrees with the motives of the

We have come a long way from a time when only white, affluent, property owning males could vote. In terms of ‘voting rights’ it was a gradual expansion of the vote, which slowly began to expand to all whites, individuals once labeled slaves or ‘aliens’, African Americans, military personal and women. To vote in the United States, no longer do you need to pass a literacy test, but you must be a U.S citizen and at least 18 years old on Election Day. In addition, some states also require various periods of residency before voting is permitted. Furthermore some states restrict felons or those mentally incompetent to vote. In Massachusetts, for the first time, there was Early Voting. During this period, October 24th to November 4th, registered voters were allowed to cast their ballots. During this period of Early voting, I along with a group of classmates had the engaging opportunity to be an exit pollster. We decided to canvas much of the Boston area, with hopes of a ranging demographic. This hands-on experience, working with a team in carrying out the exit poll, allowed for a greater insight to the dynamics of election administration, a deeper understanding on the rights of voters and voter turn out, technique for attaining a random sample, the role of the interviewer and importance of survey design.

There are thirty states in the United States that require some form of official identification in order to register to vote and to vote for federal, state, and local elections. Voter identification laws ensure the integrity of elections by deterring impersonation fraud at the polls. Requiring a government-issued ID to vote will prevent voting under fake names or under the names of deceased voters, which according to The Pew Center of the States “more than 1.8 million deceased individuals are listed as voters”.

Continuing this, an absentee ballot, as said in class, is a ballot that is mailed to voters who are unable to attend the polls. The absentee ballot process gives people who are unable to present themselves at the polls a chance to express their feelings by voting on which candidate they may pursue in. Voters may be eligible for an absentee ballot if they are going out of the state on say a vacation, if they are disabled and cannot attend the polls, if they are of age, ect… The absentee ballot process wants to make it possible for people unable to attend the polls, to vote. On the ballot the voters will pick which candidate that they feel is fit for the job and then they will send the ballot back in. Everyone who is eligible for the absentee ballot

Online voting is another impressive function developed in the framework of eGovernment. The idea of having electronic voting in Estonia gained popularity in 2001. Estonia became the first nation to hold legally binding general elections over the Internet

But, as of today there is no solid way of knowing if someone is or is not trying to sneak in more than one ballot. “I don’t know if anybody knows how prevalent it is, because the only time you find out is when somebody gets caught.” (Guzman, 1) And the statistics of that happening is .00000013 percent or 26 out of every 197 million cases. Because there are multiple techniques that can and have been used time after time again. Although this is the case there has been some attempt to prevent it. Voter ID law are one example, but it is far from the perfect solution. First, it prevents only one type of voter’s fraud, voter impersonation. And, second, the voter’s ID laws has been ruled as discrimination; so the rule is not enforced everywhere and the public can vote without

There are many controversial topics in this politically correct world. There are topics about morals, standards, and personal ethics. One of the newest debatable subjects however, is the one concerning this new centuries way of casting an individual’s vote, through electronic voting. Electronic voting is a way to cast a person’s ballot using an electronic voting machine that is touch screen. There are many advantages to using these machines during an election but there are also many disadvantages to using them as well. Before a person can make their own judgments on this subject it is important to understand and view both sides of the argument.

Introduction: Traditionally a voting machine has been defined by mechanism of the system to cast votes and categorized by the location where the system calculates and show the votes. With advances in technology EVM came into existence. This system in which citizens interact to cash their ballets that is common parlance to electronic ballet marking system, when the voter makes his or her choices, provides to verify their casted votes the mechanism used in this is DRE (Direct Recording Electronic System). Primarily the EVM’S are manufactured by BEL (Bharath Electronics Limited) and ECIL (Electronics Corporation of India Limited). It ensures flawless voting and thus has become more widespread. Retains all characteristic of voting while making it more beneficial.