Saturday, October 22, 2005

Polling via SMS

You may believe it or not but technology has changed our way of living. Residents of the Swiss town of Bulach are using SMS to cast votes on a local measure regarding road speed limits. The SMS voting project will be reviewed by the Swiss government which could decide to roll out the capability across the country.

As an security measure, SMS voters also have to supply their birth date. According to the officials, SMS process is more secure than paper balloting. For example, someone could steal the voting material from letter boxes but it would be easier for them to forge a signature and cast the paper ballot then to cast a vote on someone else's behalf via SMS because of the birth date requirement.

Bulach residents will have another chance to vote via SMS in November on a different issue. The Swiss government will examine the results of the trials and may decide to allow for SMS voting around the country. Really, technology has become an integral part of our daily life!

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