As the presidential primaries hit the final stretch, the arguments continue surrounding the best method for voting.  Is it by electronic ballot, or scanned ballot or hand counted paper ballot?  Should America move to on line voting? What voting method is easy enough for voters to understand, states to afford, and reduces any and all issues of vote count tampering?

Well, Samsung Telecommunications America conducted their own poll on the issue.  What they found was similar to the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) method.  Three hundred teenagers 13-19 and five hundred parents of teenagers 13-19 were asked if they would rather vote by text message on their mobile phones or go to the polls.  61% of all participants 18 and older said they would seriously consider voting by text message and 80% of participants 13-17 said they would definitely vote by text message rather than go to the polls. 

The other remarkable aspect of this poll, besides the fact it was conducted, was that the majority opinion about text voting was across political lines.  “More than half of all Democrats, Republicans and Independents surveyed say that if allowed, they’d text in their Presidential vote.”  It’s hard to figure out if it is a good or bad sign that the majority of Americans would rather vote by text than by regular voting booth ballot.

If vote by text was allowed, the major problems would be teaching non parents of teenagers how to text, and making sure every registered voter had 1.) a cell phone, 2.) they have a plan that allows texting and 3.) they know who is running.

Entry was posted on Monday, April 21st, 2008 at 5:12 pm under Politics.  Print This Post