Electronic Voting has become a big issue in recent presidential elections.  Technology is entering America's polling places and ballot boxes.  Citizens deserve to have the right for their vote to count.  I discussed the good and the bad of e-voting with a few young computer experts in Alabama and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an expert on electronic voting methods.

Oliver Weiss, a 25 year old software designer from Alabama believes: "E-voting has benefits including making it easier for people to vote if done securely.  It allows for more candidates to be on the ballot.  It is a much more efficient method of voting and tallying the votes.  One of the potentials for e-voting is that people could securely vote from their home or work at their computer.  However, e-voting raises many pressing security questions today which severely limits its future."  Weiss continued: "There are many major transactions completed securely on the internet each day.  The potential for secure voting exists, it's just not quite there yet."

Today, continued problems with the security issues of e-voting makes many citizens question if the convenience is worth it.  Baird Castleberry an Alabama-based computer specialist and web designer believes that e-voting is dangerous.  He stated: "Voting is one of the only instances I can think of where I still believe everything should still be on paper rather than electronic."  The 28 year old Castleberry fears that the power of voting could be corrupted by potential villains of democracy including the handful of corporations who produce, program, and maintain these voting machines.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. believes electronic voting in recent elections has been plagued with errors and corruption.  Electronic voting problems in Ohio in 2004 were especially bad.  Kennedy states: "Only 800,000 out of the 5.6 million votes in Ohio were cast on electronic voting machines, but they were plagued with errors, according to the Columbus Free Press.  Some voters complained of choosing one candidate on a touch screen and watching the opposing candidate light up."

Choose AND Lose.

All three interviewees agreed that it would be nice to receive a paper receipt after casting a vote.  We get a receipt for everything including a donut...so why not get one for our vote? So e-voting is only worth it if every legal voting citizens' vote is counted properly.  Today, electronic voting seems to be jeopardizing that right.  Any threat to voting security is a direct threat to one of the fundamental aspects of American democracy. 

Could I get a receipt with that?  What if I want to return my candidate at a later date?? 

For Alabama, this is David Whiteside, MTV Choose or Lose 2008.