In The Primary Elections, Allowing an Online Option Would Be More Democratic  A Suggestion For America's Major Political Parties The most democratic system possible would be one in which voters prioritize their candidates. For example, Angie, Bob, Carrie and Dan are running for office, and you really like Carrie, would be okay with Bob, but can't tolerate Angie or Dan. Angie and Dan both have loyal followings, but a majority of the population dislikes Angie, and a majority dislikes Dan. If an election results in a 30% vote for Dan, 28% for Bob, 24% for Angie and 18% for Carrie, under the current system, Dan wins the election, even if an overwhelming majority of the electorate thinks he is the absolute worst candidate. Under a prioritized system, voters could prioritize all of the candidates. You could select Carrie as your first choice, Bob as your second, Angie as your third and leave Dan at the bottom. Since Carrie got the least amount of first votes, she would be eliminated, and your second choice vote would become your first vote. If 2% of Carrie's vote goes to Dan, and 9% goes to Bob and 7% to Angie, now Dan has 32%, Bob has 37% and Angie has 31%. Angie would then be eliminated and those votes would go to next choice of each individual voter. If the remaining votes were split evenly, then Bob would be the winner, so although even though most people wouldn't get their first choice (which was also the case under the traditional method), they wouldn't be stuck with their least favorite choice either. In the past, calculating the votes in a prioritized system would have been too complicated and too time consuming. With the technological skills we have now, however, computer programs and applications could be developed to calculate those votes by election night. Additionally, to truly represent the will of the population, steps should be taken to give as many people as possible the opportunity to vote. Again, in the general election, we need the security offered by an in-person voting center, at least until all the flaws have been worked out of remote voting options. But since the primary process is already extremely flawed, bringing more voters by allowing remote voting online would make that process more democratic. Security precautions should still be taken. Applications on mobile devices should be coded to the accounts of each mobile device. The download of the app the first time would have to be done from the cell phone with the number provided on the voter registration. There could be carefully crafted security questions. It would be safer than an absentee ballot is now. Previous                                                                                                 Next