Power To The People…Or Not

One of the, "loud and clear" themes that seemed to ring out from our Town Hall gathering last Thursday at Rider University is that politicians are not doing enough for us to keep our taxes down and help us survive in New Jersey in the year 2012.

Almost running neck and neck with that cry was lamentation over the fact that voter turnout in New Jersey is abysmally low.

So it would seem, one might extrapolate from this that absent the appearance of any real or meaningful help from Trenton and Washington, many voters have just decided to not show up on election day. Throw into this mix the complaint by many, (including Governor Christie), that the State Supreme Court, "The Magnificent Seven" has been legislating from the bench in crucial New Jersey policy matters such as education and housing and where your money goes and how it is spent, for years, and the casual observer might understand why many voters have opted to just push away from the table, saying, "I have had enough."

One thing that did not surface at our first Town Hall during the lamentation over low voter turnout was the idea, bandied about in the past, of voting online. Seems whenever that subject is broached its evil twin, "voter fraud" is also trotted out. If people were allowed to vote online, could someone hack or scam the system. Possibly. Probably. But I have to ask, has the voting system been Lily white and pristine in the past? In my humble opinion, athlete's foot and voter fraud will sadly, always be with us. And both stink.

And allowing the electorate to click a mouse to make their selections in November would not change the relationship we, the poor, the tired, the huddled masses, have with our State Supreme Court. If they are overstepping their power, online voting is not going to help that.

What is interesting is that I began talking to a few people after our Town Hall about online voting. And after the fear of voter fraud was mentioned, those I talked to also made the remark that they believe the politicians do not want a system that would jump start voter turnout up to 50, 60 percent or more, because they fear seeing that many eligible voters making their voices and having their choices heard.

But you know, some of our children, the 20-somethings who are struggling to find a good job while they deal with student loans and trying to afford to buy a home, are a hell of a lot more computer saavy than we are. And they recognize a simple fact. We do a lot of things online these days, banking, purchasing, filing income taxes. I think they would, "show up" on election day in great numbers if the voting booth became a website for some of them.

Online voting would not be a panacea for everything that is wrong in New Jersey. And yes, some brilliant people could find a way to 'jimmy' the system. But some believe it would also raise the loudness of the people's voice. And hey! Maybe Trenton or Washington might actually hear that voice for once.