You can't escape the headlines right now about the questionable impact of technology and the internet on electoral outcomes. Yet there's an even more basic issue we haven't addressed in the UK - verifying the identity of voters.
Nobody checks who I am when I go to the polling station. I give my name and address and they use a pencil and a ruler to draw a line through my name on a sheet of paper. I don't even need my polling card.
In contrast, our security guards (who know full well who I am) check my identity pass before I'm even allowed up the escalator in the CMS office, every single time I come in and out.
With many councils holiding elections in the UK today, I can't help but wonder why on earth, in one of the world's oldest democracies, there aren't any safeguards on our electoral process. They may be trialling checking ID in some wards today, but what we need is stringent security and biometric verification. We are so far behind many other countries!
Trials of Voter ID in local elections aren’t the answer to fraud
In many African countries, for example, voters are registered using their fingerprints or some other form of biometric identification. This makes it possible to verify voters biometrically when they turn up at polling stations, ensuring that only those who are registered are able to cast ballots, and that no one is able to vote twice.
The content above was originally posted on CMS DigitalBytes - CMS lawyers sharing comment and commentary on all things tech.
