Ask HN: Would you pay to vote from your phone? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Would you pay to vote from your phone?

4 pointsParameterOne13 comments

Maybe $5-$10 per year? and you can vote in local, state, and federal elections?

$0, any direct fee is a barrier to a free and open process. And the local and state government already uses taxes collected to fund polling places and mail in ballots.

Hear, hear!

I don't see it as a barrier to free and open process because the typical polling stations would still be open.

I understand that you may be looking at this for a way to monetize/capitalize on something that hasn't been yet; and the system is inefficient, but the only way that you would be able to legitimately get this to go would be partnering with the government as a certified app, and then your income is from state and federal taxes, not the monetized individual.

Things you'd have to make sure you've got covered (that the really don't have covered yet with the current system).

  - Voter Identity and Authentication
  - Multiple Ballots (you have to sign up for mail-in currently, and can't vote in person if you have)
  - Coordinating these with the State and Federal election committees

If you want to see a mandate on non-polling place election methods, look no further than the special election here in Montana. It was put to vote to allow for all ballots to be mail in, and it was struck down via partisan reasons, even though those don't hold here. You would have to go through a vetting process and bidding period to be the person/group/company that supplied this tech, and someone would more than likely underbid you as federal contract rules are as arcane as they are inane.

TL;DR: Voting is __not__ a system that is ripe for privatized 'disruption'.

I am medically handicapped. I have only voted twice in my life in part because I don't want to physically go to a polling place. Crowds make me ill.

I am potentially your target market. My medical handicap also means I am desperately poor and can't spare the money.

You might consider trying to sell this to the government as an additional accessibility service for handicapped voters rather than trying to sell it to voters.

Like it was already said, voters cannot pay for the service. Full stop. For monetization, you would have to charge the government.

If voters could pay for the service would you?

What I meant is that voters should never have to pay to vote. Personally, I'm fine with my mail in ballot. However, a sanctioned app that I could vote on in addition to being able to better research the things I'm voting on would be something I'd likely use.

>What I meant is that voters should never have to pay to vote.

Why not? Why isn't it a good idea to ask that folks have "skin in the game" via a poll tax if they want to participate in the political process?

No. At this point you could hardly convince me to GET paid to vote.

Broken system and poor process already makes this a hassle. Why would I pay to to exercise my right as a citizen of a democratic nation?

No. A polling station guarantees anonymity. If you can vote from anywhere, what stops you from selling your vote, being able to show the buyer who you voted for?

What stops you from doing the same, then taking out the hires camera you carry around in your pocket to do the verification from the booth? This concern gets brought up every-time remote voting comes up, ignoring the fact we already have remote voting (mail in ballots) and ignoring the fact it's not really changing anything. You can already buy the vote (in the US) legally through massive campaign spending.

As if voting worked... (but that is another can of worms.)

No. I wouldn't pay to vote with my phone. There is an annoying problem of "anonymity" which phones are very prone to break--if you could ever trust the operating system and providers with your personal information within anyway.

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