Congress' approval rating sits as low as 10 percent, depending on which poll you trust. So a bunch of engineers and developers came up with a uniquely Silicon Valley solution -- replace politicians with software. We're not talking about some advanced AI, though, so don't start worrying about Skynet just yet. PlaceAVote is a simply a digital polling platform, which means there will still need to be a human being on the floor casting a vote. The first two candidates who pledge to simply vote whatever way the internet tells them are already on the ballot in California, and 20 more are supposedly on tap for 2016.
If any of those candidates win they'd then have to find a way to get a private key code out to each and every one of their constituents. That key along with a unique identifier, such as social security number would be needed to log into the PlaceAVote system, which makes security one of its biggest priorities. Of course, no system is 100 percent secure and PlaceAVote would certainly face its fair share of challenges from hackers and those looking to commit voter fraud it it enjoys even a modicum of success. The entire premise requires voters have regular access to a computer for this attempt to shoehorn direct democracy into a representative system to work, which will definitely be problematic is poorer districts around the country. And while well intentioned there's a pretty good case against direct democracy in general; just because something is popular doesn't mean it's good (see Modern Family). In many ways having an elected representative is saving us from ourselves.
Filed under: Internet, Software
Via: Motherboard
Source: PlaceAVote
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