Why cannnot everyone in the country vote on every policy by phone?

Question

The technology to have a yes/no button on your phone has long been available.This could create a true democracy.Why doesn't it happen?

It's easy to create falsify results too-remember Bush?

appreciate the comments but how difficult would a yes/no button be?Really?

Answer 1

The phrase 'true democracy' can be understood as a contradiction in terms especially if your definition of democracy is simply 'majority rule'. For true 'majority rule' to occur, as opposed to just 'majority rule' without the adjective 'true', I presume there would be harsher laws to enforce the rule of the majority?
Real power is economic power. A telephone button is nominal power, a token, a placebo, signifying only notional power. The idea that your choice on the telephone pad is going to have any meaningful impact on the great decision makers is entirely delusionary but it serves the purpose of making you feel good. A placebo.
Electoral voting is no different. The politician or senator is like the button. You select one whose the closest to your political colour and the rest is out of your tiny little hands.
There is however a voting system that would come closer perhaps to your idea of 'true democracy', assuming that your definition is what I think it is. This voting system would give you the opportunity to choose where you want your tax to be spent in the public expense accounts. An audited poll, expressed as percentages, giving every citizen an annual public spend review where they tick on a form where they want their money to be invested.
You choose 50% spending on welfare programs and 0% on military, you not only express your politics, philosophy and religion but you express your economic power. This power will also be guaranteed by State Law that your choice will be honoured and every cent or penny of tax you pay will be deposited in the respective departments or areas you have chosen on your voting form.
The word Democracy is like a shibboleth, a word used as a means of identification and of grouping people under a general theme or characteristic. If we are honest, the closest we are ever going to get to a truly democratic system is where every participant is fully involved in assimulating the issues of the day, can understand the complexities of security in a nation state maintaining empirical stances, and who stop acting like a sponge soaking up TV entertainment every day. It's not going to happen. But there are other ways... like the one I mentioned.

Answer 2

Here's a few hurdles phone voting would need to overcome:

Not everyone has a phone (and so to only have phone polling would effectively act a as a poll tax to some);

voting by phone is easy to manipulate and for instance, does not guarantee freedom from coercion; prevent candidates from campaigning within a certain distance of the virtual polling place; phone line jamming; double voting; power issues

no verifiable record/receipt of the vote - big problem in the States with electronic voting.

You'd need some mechanism to permit eligible voters from the same household use the same phone,without voter identity

(As a rudimentary pilot for this idea, look at "Pop Idol" or "American Idol"...and how much controversy have you seen over results of those votes).

Answer 3

The number pad on the phone is too difficult for many to fathom. Absentee ballots have been around much longer than the technology to vote by phone and doesn't even require that one leave the house to participate.

As long as people prefer to spend their time watching Judge Judy and Dr. Phil they will never be informed participants of the electoral process.

Answer 4

A democracy is a system of government where three wolves and two sheep vote to decide what's for dinner. This only really works out when you're one of the wolves

Be very glad we live in a a republic, and not a true democracy.

I'm personally relieved to know that many of the people whose opinions are expressed in this forum are bound by the rule of law. I'm pretty sure many of them would like to see Hugo "Boss" Chavez in the White House.

Answer 5

A voting system over the internet as secure as banking online is feasible. After all this this is the 21st Century and they managed a neutered form of democracy in Athens over a millenia ago.

Answer 6

I don`t agree with the postal-vote as it is prone to wrongdoing, phone-votes would be a complete joke and open for even bigger abuse!

Answer 7

Easy to make false or forced results.

Answer 8

Because someone has to ask the questions

Answer 9

no