With the UK election looming, it is probably a bit late to be pondering quite how to get more young people engaged in politics.  With just 44% of 18-24 year olds voting in the 2010 election however, it is likely to remain a topic of discussion for some time.

Suffice to say, there are peculiarities of the British electoral system that don’t help, such as the first past the post system that makes it hard for new parties to garner the representation their burgeoning popularity suggests they should get, all of which makes many question the point of voting.

Another issue to consider is the method of voting.  With so much of our lives played out online, it seems peculiar that there remains no mechanism to register your vote on the Internet.

It’s certainly possible, as Estonia have proudly shown since installing online voting in 2007, and is something that John Bercow, the speaker of the house of commons, wants to see in place in time for the next election in 2020.

Online voting

A service that may be of interest in this endeavor may be the Harvard based start-up Voatz, which has developed a secure, mobile based voting and campaigning platform.

The Voatz system enables users to not only cast their vote but also make donations and so on, all from their smartphone.

Each user goes through an ID check to ensure they’re eligible to vote, which requires a smartphone equipped with biometric capabilities.

Despite this seemingly advanced requirements, the makers hope that their platform will make online voting both easier and more accessible, especially to younger voters.

Whilst I appreciate the intentions behind the system, I do wonder if it isn’t trying to make things more complicated than needsbe.  After all, it’s fairly certain that the initial system implemented in Estonia back in 2007 had no such functionality.

Maybe it would be prudent to get the basics right first before looking to roll out even more advanced functionality?