This paper examines the feasibility of transitioning from the traditional paper-based voter registration and ballot system to a computerized, online alternative. Beginning with a description of the current manual process—from voter registration through ballot tabulation—the paper argues that online voter registration and electronic voting terminals could reduce errors, increase voter turnout, and accelerate election tabulation. It also candidly evaluates the disadvantages of digitization, including hardware and software vulnerabilities, cybersecurity threats such as malicious viruses, and accessibility concerns for elderly or less-educated voters. A phased implementation strategy, data flow diagrams, and a data dictionary round out the proposal.
The paper employs a structured feasibility-analysis format: it describes the existing system, proposes a replacement, defines key data entities in a data dictionary, and evaluates alternatives before presenting a phased rollout plan. This mirrors professional systems-analysis methodology (context diagram → data flow diagram → data dictionary), giving the argument a technical rigor beyond a standard persuasive essay.
The paper opens with contextual framing and a narrative walkthrough of the current process, then pivots to a proposed solution with specific technical details. A dedicated "Alternatives and Analyses" section weighs pros and cons of both systems. The conclusion doubles as an implementation plan, recommending a closed-LAN pilot before a full national rollout. Data dictionaries and references to system diagrams are woven throughout, bridging narrative argument and technical documentation.
The current system for registering voters in our country was designed in an era before the computer industry had become such a major force in day-to-day life. In a time when citizens can order everything from automobiles to movie tickets online, the technology exists to streamline this system as well. State and county governments have the ability to make it simpler for each voter to participate in the democratic process by creating online voter registration and voting processes.
Consider a familiar analogy: the current voting process resembles taking a cart of groceries to the front of a store and watching the cashier manually key in the department code and price of every item on an outdated adding machine. Computerized scanners in retail stores created enormous gains in accounting accuracy, inventory control, and pricing precision. Retailers went through a difficult learning curve to install and implement these systems, but without computerized checkout terminals, modern retailers would be unable to operate. Similarly, our outdated voter registration and voting systems could be replaced by computerized procedures to increase accuracy, defeat fraud, and modernize the democratic process.
The current system is deliberately built around cumbersome checks and balances in order to guard against voting fraud. A citizen can register to vote upon reaching legal age. That voter registration information is stored in a database, which is printed out and distributed to individual county precincts on Election Day. This hard copy is in the hands of volunteer referees who oversee each transaction at the polling center.
When a voter presents identification at the polling center, their name is manually checked off the list and they are permitted to vote. If a citizen has not registered prior to Election Day, they are denied the right to vote. This process of manually verifying each voter's identity also prevents anyone from casting a ballot twice.
The voter is then given a ballot and records their choice manually on a punch card, which is returned to the referees for safekeeping. These cards are eventually tallied via aging computer card readers, and the results are electronically delivered to the state agency responsible for verifying the election.
Creating an online voter registration process would encourage participation because it would be simpler. Today, potential voters must wait in long lines and hand over their personal information to overworked clerks who must then manually input the data. This potential for error would be eliminated if citizens could register online at home, at libraries, or at kiosks installed in public buildings. The registration database would still need to be reviewed and maintained to prevent potential fraud, but this is already an ongoing procedure within the current system.
Prior to Election Day, instead of printing hard copies to be manually delivered by couriers, the voter registration database could be checked against county and state death certificates to root out voter fraud. It could also be checked against government Social Security records to identify potential irregularities. All these steps would make each election safer and more accurate.
On Election Day, voters could cast ballots via computer terminals located at the polling center. Instead of the cumbersome, costly method of looking up a person's name and registration information on hard copies, these steps would all be processed automatically. By restricting the vote-recording process to the polling center, tight control over point-of-entry fraud could be maintained. Over time, as confidence in this system was established, voters could be allowed to vote from any internet-enabled computer. This would require enhanced firewall controls and additional security protocols to prevent unauthorized hacking. By keeping transactions in central locations initially, the process would form a controllable loop built on a system inaccessible to fraudulent outside influences.
As each vote is cast, it would be electronically encrypted and sent to the state's election verification board. The data could also be recorded simultaneously on a server at the polling center and delivered via disk to the state board. Through this method, results could be validated a second time as a check that they were not tampered with during transmission.
An additional benefit of this system is that each voter who did not participate would already be identified. Public campaign organizations that work to encourage voter turnout would find this information valuable for targeting non-participants in future elections.
The new key players in this system are those who monitor and maintain the voter registration database. A team of computer technicians would need to be on hand at each polling center. The pool of voters would remain consistent, as would the referees and other polling-center volunteers.
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