Tech
Digital Voting Risks and Rewards
Nowadays, it is possible to do almost everything online. You can send money to your family members while studying in another country, tune your home camera while working in the other part of the city, and more. Also, organizations can carry out voting online. If you are going to implement this practice within your company, let’s consider the advantages and disadvantages of digital voting first.
Pros and Cons of Voting in the Digital Era
There is no doubt that online operations make people’s lives much easier. Everybody has the possibility to buy goods without leaving home, communicate with foreign friends, watch movies without wasting money on a cinema ticket, apply for any online course, etc.
Thus, many businesses take advantage of online processes as well. For example, many routine tasks such as the faxing process become simpler. Today, everybody can conduct faxing through iPhone only by using a special application. With the assistance of an easy-to-use fax app, you can make and send ready shots of documents to receivers within several clicks and at any place.
However, not only creating a fax via iPhone can be useful for business owners. If you still utilize paper ballots to carry out significant voting, maybe it is time for modern changes. After all, it can be convenient for not all voters to come to your set location to take part in voting.
At first, it may seem that the utility of online voting is obvious. Still, there are a few pitfalls that should be taken into account. Thus, let’s focus our attention on the main advantages and disadvantages of conducting online voting by your company.
Money Saving
The possibility to save money is a beneficial advantage of online voting. If you are going to conduct in-person voting, you should keep in mind that it may be expensive for you to reserve a space for your voting. Also, there is no need to forget about spending a huge sum of money on printing a large number of paper ballots.
Of course, depending on how large your company is, the centralized voting system can influence your profit in a positive way. Utilizing an online platform usually expects either a monthly payment or an annual license. This will depend on your voting needs.
Also, you will have the possibility not to spend time and money on counting ballots manually. The reason is that tabulation will be performed electronically. What’s more, there will be no need to pay employees who will assist particularly with your voting initiatives.
Safeness of Digital Voting Systems
The first disadvantage that can come to our minds is the security of online voting systems. Unfortunately, digital systems are not as safe as standard paper-based systems. The main reason is that cybercriminals can fake the results of voting easier.
If you do not want your voters to become victims of hackers, you should consider improving election safety. For this, you can search for a special system that utilizes encryption to defend the data. The main rule is to select a system that was tested by independent safety specialists.
The Possibility to Vote from Any Location
It is an obvious advantage that individuals voting online can do this from any place. This is one of the reasons companies decide to move to digital voting instead of the standard way. Like using a special application for the faxing process, voters can give preference to one of the candidates via their device only.
The convenience implies voters will obtain a username and password to access their ballot. Everything they should do is find a safe network and cast their vote from any device and no matter their actual location.
Absence of Transparency
Another minus of voting in the digital era is an absence of transparency. During traditional paper voting, voters have the possibility to see how ballots are counted. At the same time, during online voting counting the ballots process is completely electronic. This makes the verification of results more complicated.
Thus, if your organization has already implemented the utilization of an app that enables your staff to send a fax via iPhone and you are planning to introduce online voting, you should search for such a system that can provide you with transparency features. For instance, there are some online voting systems that offer a live election results page. On it, voters will have the possibility to see the results of voting as they roll in.
Also, you can find voting systems that propose election audits. This implies the votes given utilizing such a system are auditable. Moreover, you can make use of systems that offer independent verification. During this check, an independent and third-party accountant will provide honesty in the election process.
Conclusion
The advantages of online processes are endless. Not only ordinary users but also businesses can benefit from operations that are carried out remotely.
Thus, if your organization conducts voting from time to time, you can move from traditional in-person voting to an online one. However, before making this step, you should consider all pros and cons of online voting.
You can familiarize yourself with the above-discussed advantages and disadvantages of online voting. With this information, you can make a decision whether online elections are the right choice for you.
Kenneth is a proud native of sydney, born and raised there. However, he pursued his education abroad and studied in Australia. Kenneth has worked as a journalist for almost a decade, making valuable contributions to prominent publications such as Yahoo News and The Verge. Currently, he serves as a journalist for The Hear Up, where he focuses on covering climate and science news. You can reach Kenneth at [email protected].
