LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / January 16, 2018 / Smartmatic, a London headquartered electronic voting company, has worked alongside election management bodies across the globe for more than a decade. With its team of election experts on hand to monitor and supervise the process, Smartmatic can guarantee free and fair elections. The election processes made possible by Smartmatic are transparent thanks to its proven system of checks and balances in place.
In this day and age, it is imperative to modernize elections and reap the benefits technology has to offer. Whether it is using direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting machines, optical scanners for vote counting, online voting, or simply using data processing tools to manage voter rolls, technology can enable authorities to be much more efficient than ever before. But, of course, to run truly accurate elections, it is crucial to have a trustworthy poll body.
Thanks to companies like Smartmatic, whose mission is to create and offer electronic voting technology and services designed to make elections more auditable and transparent, the path towards fair voting is clearly defined.
Since its inception, "Smartmatic has helped hundreds of millions of voters cast over 3.7 billion votes in thousands of elections around the world." In many countries, the access to the right to vote is hard-fought and often unattainable. The technology works to ease this difficulty. According to Smartmatic, "Better use of technology in voting systems increases not only the transparency, efficiency, and integrity of an election, but also makes voting more accessible, allowing societies to reverse declining trends in turnout and citizen participation."
Electronic voting machines, or EVMs, are used in many elections in many countries. E-voting, though still physically supervised by election authorities, is a modern way for citizens to cast their votes for governmental office.
But sometimes, the jump from purely manual elections to electronic voting machines can seem daunting. Optical scanners can work as an intermediate. Optical scanners can be used to digitize the manual ballots marked by the voters and then facilitate counting and transmission of results. Optical scanners are currently widely used in the United States, Canada, and the Philippines.
It is easy to understand why many election and polling bodies choose to integrate electronic voting into their election processes. E-voting is speedier, less costly (individual workers do not have to be paid to sift through and count thousands of ballots), and more user friendly than traditional paper ballots.
Even so, electronic voting is not the absolute standard. Even in countries as developed as America, paper ballots are still heavily prevalent.
So, why is technology better? When votes are cast and counted electronically, as in the case of electronic voting, the results are available almost right away. Also, by automating crucial processes such as results transmission and canvassing the incidence of human error is minimized.
Moreover, electronic voting can be made more disability-friendly than traditional paper ballots. If a person with a disability requires assistance, an electronic voting option provides them with exponentially more privacy than a paper ballot casting system ever could. With the electronic option, a disabled person may cast an anonymous ballot with the help of the assistive technology. Otherwise, they would need the explicit assistance of an election official, who would inevitably invade their privacy in the effort to assist their voting process.
The advantages of modernizing elections are clear. Speed, accessibility and accuracy are important factors to consider. Next time you head out to vote, expect to use an electronic voting system to cast your ballot.
About Smartmatic:
Founded in the USA in 2000, Smartmatic is the leading provider of voting technologies and solutions worldwide. Today, out of the eight countries pioneering election automation Smartmatic provides technology and services to six of them: Belgium, Brazil, Estonia, the Philippines, USA and Venezuela. The company has managed elections across five continents, processing over 3.7 billion votes. It serves customers through an organization comprising over 600 employees across 12 offices around the world.
For more information, visit www.smartmatic.com.
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SOURCE: European News Daily