Dear Editor,
In response to the opinion article “Physical vs Digital Ballots,” I have here written my response and my own opinion on the matter.
I do not deny that paper is, in some cases, better than digital. For example, paper tests feature a variety of advantages over digital ones. However, this does not apply to voting. The benefits of digital voting far outweigh the benefits of physical voting in this situation.
The first major point the article makes is that physical voting reduces the risk of voting fraud. This is absolutely not the case. It is quite easy to set-up a form in Google Forms which only allows Millard emails to participate. Even if you allow non-Millard emails to participate, you can quickly skim the list of emails for any signs of bots or fishy behavior. It is also surprisingly easy to rig physical ballots when it is not rigorously checked, which is harder and time-consuming to do physically. Digital voting provides extra security with little effort.
The second major point the article makes is that physical ballots may attract people who wouldn’t be able to vote otherwise. This apparent problem is easily solved with posters and QR-codes leading to the digital form. This leads straight into the article’s third point, which is that physical ballots encourage more consideration than digital voting. The point may seem true on the surface, but if you are voting, you may have your selection picked out beforehand. If you don’t, you’re still going to read the list of options. Either way, physical ballots present no advantage.
The final point talks about convenience. This is the point I disagree with the most. It claims that physical voting does not take that long, admittedly something that is true, but then follows up later with the idea that this will increase engagement as it provides more opportunities to vote. This is very much not the case. Just like before, a well-placed QR-code can cause people to vote when maybe they wouldn’t have otherwise. Any opportunity to vote physically is also an opportunity to vote digitally, so this point is untrue. In fact, digital voting provides even more opportunity to vote than physical voting, as you can do it whenever you want! Physical voting only provides a limited window to cast your vote. What if you missed all of the voting opportunities, or even just forgot? With physical voting, you can’t do anything about the matter. But with digital voting, it is as simple as opening your phone or computer.
In conclusion, I strongly believe we should shift to digital voting for the reasons listed above. For any benefits physical voting has, digital voting can either match or improve upon them.
Respectfully,
Brayden Edwards (Junior)
