After witnessing the last American general election and the furor around it, it’s become pretty obvious that American democracy is not really working. People are starting to see that, and lose faith in the democratic system. This is doubly unfortunate, as our system depends on the citizens having faith in the electoral process.
So what do we do? Ideally, we build a better democracy. Incrementally, that is. As much as angsty teenagers would disagree, it’s really not in anyone’s best interest to burn it down and start from scratch.
There’s been a report about online voting, positing that it’s inherently at odds with the anonymous vote. As it currently stands, that’s correct.
But does it have to be? Or at least, can it be as well-secured from voting fraud and coercion as the paper ballot is today? I’m not sure. It would be difficult, perhaps unrealistically so, but I can’t help but wonder if it’s possible to build a system with secret sharing and PKI with a trusted third party handling authentication.
In a surprising victory for common sense, the FCC voted to treat broadband internet connections as Title II common carriers. I don’t know how long it will last before the Republicans tear it down, but here’s hoping the decision stands. Common carrier is the only sane way of treating ISPs, and it’s always surprised me that it hadn’t happened sooner.
The problem, though, is that I don’t think the FCC will go far enough.