The election may have been a week ago, but its results are still being sorted out.
Florida has until 8 p.m. Thursday to finish a recount or they’ll default back to their count from Saturday. The deadline stands, regardless of ballots that may be lost in the process.
Before that though, on Wednesday, a federal court in Tallahassee, Florida, will hear a case regarding mail-in and provisional ballots from this election. It is estimated that this case would affect 20,000 ballots.
This is a decent number given the incredibly close margins in some of Florida’s races. There were margins of less than 0.5 percent in the races for governor, senator and agricultural commissioner.
Democrats are pushing hard for the ballots in question to be counted, as they’re likely to come in blue. Minority and young voters account for a disproportionate amount of mail-in and provisional ballots, and these voters are more likely to vote for Democrats.
A process that should be streamlined, absolute and definitive has become a mess. But it’s not because of sloppiness.
It’s because they’re trying to recount 8.5 million votes in a swing state. And the system needs reform.
Voting is the backbone of our democracy. So why then, are we not improving it?
Don’t get me wrong, I loved filling out my ballot with a black ink pen, knowing that every Scantron I’d ever filled out had prepared me for that moment.
But I love voting. I stood in line for two hours on my birthday, and while everyone behind me grew antsy and agitated, my anticipation grew. My enthusiasm could not be stifled by their apparent irritation, my twenty-something pound backpack or the length of the line. I was about to vote.
But not everyone is like me. People have to be hounded and convinced and reminded and pressured and guilted to vote.
So the slightest inconvenience can send them on their merry way. The length of the line at my polling location undoubtedly prompted many to turn around and walk in the other direction. The time it takes just can’t work with some people and their schedules. A girl ten people behind me in line left after two hours, just minutes before we finally got to vote, because she had to get to class.
My location ran out of ballots multiple times throughout the day. This is a major problem.
And it's one that could easily be prevented. We need to have enough ballots ready for all voters. 364 days a year we should conserve paper, but on election day, preparedness comes first. A shortage of ballots sends the message that voters’ voices don’t matter.
Better yet, voting could go paperless. When the girl behind me in line impatiently asked the poll worker why we weren’t voting from computers, I wanted to roll my eyes.
But then I thought about it. Not a single one of the hundred people behind me in line was as enthusiastic as I was about this. Who knows how many other people called it quits before making it in line.
We have mail-in ballots; we’ve deemed remote voting acceptable. Why then, can we not go one step further and allow people to vote from their phones?
Security is the obvious issue, but as Twitter user @prisonculture, founder of organizations such as Project NIA and Chicago Taskforce, pointed out, “If people can take a photo of a check on their phone in order to deposit it into their bank accounts, then this country can find AN EASY AND ACCESSIBLE WAY for people to cast their votes. The fact that this is NOT happening is because those running the country don’t want it.”
This sort of system would not only make for a far simpler process, it would drastically increase eligible voter participation. Many people who won’t find time to make it to the polls would download an app and vote from home or work.
This would also increase accessibility for voters with disabilities, an often overlooked demographic that cannot easily make it to the polls.
Additionally, a digital tally is a safer and more secure alternative to paper ballots and could help bring clarity and confidence in situations like Florida right now.
A streamlined voting process involving technology should not be written off as millennials refusing to unplug. It would increase the ease and accessibility of voting. Inaccessibility, whether it be to those with jobs or disabilities, is a form of disenfranchisement.
