Look, mom…no hanging chads!
It wasn’t long after the Minnesota State Canvassing Board ruled unanimously that 1,500 incorrectly rejected absentee ballots should be counted, giving the Franken campaign a boost, that the Coleman campaign sought to battle it out in the state Supreme Court in Minnesota.
While the shenanigans continue in Minnesota, the tiny country of Estonia is laughing their istmiks off at the election process in the U.S. Ok, maybe not literally, but they are kicking our istmiks when it comes to election technology and, folks, that’s just plain sad.
Starting with elections held in 2011 and beyond, Estonians will now have the option of voting via mobile phone.
The mobile-voting system, which has already been tested, requires that voters obtain free, authorized chips for their phones, said Raul Kaidro, spokesman of the SK Certification Center, which issues personal ID cards in Estonia.
The chip will verify the voter’s identity and authorize participation in the electronic voting system, he said.
The system and software have proven effective and reliable in an independent security audit, Kaidro said. He dismissed security concerns, claiming the system “is the most secure way to authenticate digital signatures.”
This isn’t a voting technology first for Estonia, either. They’ve been using an Internet voting system since 2005 for local elections and even rolled it out nationally for the parliamentary vote last year.
No offense to the immense number of elected officials and volunteers that oversee the voting systems and processes (and there are many) in our country during each and every election, but you all just got owned by The Republic of Estonia. Estonia! That’s not something I’d put on my resume. Incidentally, no offense meant to Estonians, either. You guys rock. No, seriously. Can I come vote in your elections? Ours give me a headache.
It’s beyond time for change.
–Gordy