Yesterday I attempted to cast my vote during the early voting.  However once I arrived I found the line to be much too long for the convenience to be worthwhile.  The whole purpose for me to ulitize early voting was to bypass long lines.  So I decided to try again later on in the week or maybe even wait until election day.

Which begs the question:  Why does the voting process in the world’s greatest democracy have to be so painful?  Why can’t elections be held over a long period of time at multi-locations? (I know, it’s called “early voting”).

Those who control the voting process – i.e. the elected officials and political appointees obviously want the status quo to be maintained.  So no major changes in the way we do elections since the start of this democracy.  One always as to go to their designated polling place near their home to cast their ballot.  Always register months ahead of time; all the while making the process difficult to understand to those of us used to convenience.

Why not utilize online voting via the internet?  Have a login username such as one’s SSN.  A password in the form of a PIN number could be mail to the voter a few weeks before the election.  Then at the designated time, one could cast their vote online from the convenience of their home or workplace.

Online voting is not going to happen for many years to come.  The old hats are too afraid of voter faud, even though they themselves transfer other forms of sensitive information via the internet such as making a credit card transaction and online banking.  Those in charge want a papertrail.

I find it interesting that I’ve never been asked to provide a photo ID at the traditional polling place.  A voter card seems to suffice.  So the traditional way of voting seems to be just a prone to fraud as the 21st century way of voting.