What might happen when technology becomes more intertwined with voting? The question goes beyond the much discussed issue of whether to adopt computerized voting machines, says self-described “interaction designer” and futurist Jason Tester. Tester, who recently graduated from the Interaction Design Institute Ivrea in Italy, has come up with a creative synthesis of technology, design, and political science that examines technology’s potential impact on voting in the context of abysmal voter turnout and decreasing confidence in government.
Get the whole story at the Technology Review.
To be honest, I don’t really think the ideas are that compelling, except for “post-vote tracking,” which proposes to monitor how well elected officials carry through on their campaign promises. This is actually something which is already provided by several groups that rate officials not according to specific promises but according to how they vote compared to the tracking groups’ priorities.
Still, I think it’s valuable any time someone looks at how our system functions and asks whether it couldn’t be better. I’d like to see election days to be holidays, to encourage more people to participate in both voting as well as volunteering at the polls. I also think it would be worth a few public dollars to just spruce up the voting process — I don’t know, give people free donuts and coffee or something.
What small changes do you think might improve our democratic process?
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