why voting is so out of date

So voting and voting systems seem to be a hot topic of discussion wthin political circles of late and in this the year of the Alternative vote referendum in may. I thought i'd just ad a few thoughts on the matter. I personally feel voting is not "sexy" enough to young people. Lets look at the facts in the last series of big brother and x factor combined we had more of the country's population voting in these contests. I know a trivial point but its true. There are a whole host of different theories as to why people have become disenchanted with politics. Whether it being the total distrust of a polititian , something i can totally understand or the feeling that their vote does not realy matter.

Well your vote does matter i feel. Whichever votying system is in place your vote can make all the difference i do feel. Then again i'm really into politics myself and political affairs.

But i think voting and the whole feeling of doing so should be changed and modernised.

Let me make this clear this is not a blog post about AV for or against i really am not bothered iether way as i know that it isnt the system as such that is broken it is the systematic politics we end up with with people who really dont represent us as the everyday person in the street anymore.

But i do think we should try to modernise having out dated formats where you have to get to your local designated polling station to cast your one vote. You can only be registered to vote at one location and they wont accept you anywhere else. I personally think this style of reggid inflexable voting is prehistoric and was fien in the days where we all used to live and work very close together and our places of work didnt take us all over the country for some.

I really do feel it is about time now with the invention of the internet and mobile technology we should start opening up and becoming more flexable.

Why dont we start letting people vote online in their lunch hour while at work or on their i phones on the way to or from work. Why do people who are always on the go these days have to be restricted to where they can cast their vote.

Surely in this day and age of internet and instant communication with things like twitter and facebook now taking off should we not start to embrace the modern technology that is there for us to use now.

I dont totally propose getting rid of the local polling station as there will always be the need for them to count local votes but when it is all online i feel computer systems which are more accurate and a darn sight quicker at counting and formulating results could result in a quicker and simplier outcome.

Of course you would still be registered to your home constituency and your vote cast from anywhere over the internet with a safe unique voting code consigned to you and you only will be linked to you on the voting register. You would be asked before the election just as you are now if you would prefer to vote online or by text on a mobile phone just as you are already now if you wuold prefer a proxy vote or postal vote.

I just think this way especially for people on the go it will encourage a greater take up for those who feel they have little time in their life with busy family commitments too to get down the polling station and vote.

This will also have benifits in shorterning the queues at polling stationsa s people no longer need come out of their houses or even leave work to cast their vote.

For myself in the last labour party leadership election back in september i took up this opputunity with the party and cast my vote for the leader all online. With me being registered blind now for 5 years i thought this was excellent news and great for my independance. Obviosly i could not write on a piece of paper to cast my vote by post so filling it in online made things a lot lot simplier. NOt fool proof by any means and still could do with some accessability tweaking for screen reading use but it is all there and i found it worked very well for me and i'm sure many others.

With blogs and internet use taking off for political figures campaigners and activists is it not tme now that the electoral system took the modern technology on board now for the next election and make this a far easier election for people to cast their vote. No matter what voting system we have be it first past the post or the alternative vote. Both can be carried out online or by your phone if given the correct amount of thought and preparation.