Robert Silver (USA)
Vote by ATM
Why not use ATMs as voting machines?



The 2000 presidential election turned into a national fiasco due mainly to the archaic manner in which we count votes. There is a solution using modern day technology so that this might never happen again. Through-out the US, Canada, and in much of the civilized world, there is already in-place a secure infrastructure for collecting votes. There are computer terminals in gas stations, banks, super markets etc. called ATMs (Automatic Teller Machines).



There are over a half a million ATMs worldwide. Everyday, billions of dollars worth of monetary transactions move through this system with a tremendously high degree of security. Some not-so-obvious benefits are that it would lessen the amount of absentee ballots. A U.S. citizen could vote from anywhere in the world where an ATM is located, with their selections tallied as easily, quickly and accurately as a person voting within the United States.



In addition, the voting would not have to be done all in one day, which could increase voter turnout. It could be done over a period of time preceding Election Day. The results from each state could be immediately tallied and presented to the media after all the votes are counted.



How would it work? Each state would issue a voting card in the same way some do now. Like a credit card, it would be inserted into any ATM. A voter card would give a person’s personal identification number, to assure the identity of the voter. Candidate options would appear on-screen, and the voter’s selection would be recorded. The card could either be destroyed or saved depending on the requirements of the state.



Reward: I would like to be the project manager to get this going at either a state or federal level.

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