Lubbock Left

…and yet kinda far away (we don’t wanna get up off the couch).

I’m doing a little thinking out loud here, so bear with me.

Live polling is a modern dream of every populist, and we’re now at the point — technologically speaking — where we can make it happen.

Here’s what I picture. Our current system of elections would stay the same, but elected officials at all levels of government would have access to instant polling tools that they would use to aid their decision-making. No more relying on pundits or lobbyists or even activist groups to claim ownership of public opinion — we have the capability to build a system where elected officials can just ask the voting public directly. It could be an opt-in system offered along with voter registration. It could be done online and over the phone (”Press one to nuke Iran, press two to try diplomacy…”). These instant polls would not be binding, but the results should be publicly available and taken into consideration by our elected leaders.

This is not pie-in-the-sky stuff. The business world is already catching on to the power of instant polling. Website advertisers certainly get it; easily half the ads I see online are invitations to participate in surveys. Fundraising groups use surveys to generate interest. Even the Nintendo Wii features a free “Everybody Votes” channel where Wii owners can vote in simple A-or-B opinion polls, predict the results, and see an analysis of the results (and it has more participation than many countries’ elections).

What is missing right now is a way to wed such technology to our system of voter registration, a way to prevent massive fraud in the system, and the political will to make it all happen.

The dawn of the internet age is opening up everything, including politics. I think that we will see politicians becoming more accessible, government becoming more transparent (we need it!), and the path between constituent and elected official becoming more direct.