More to voting than simply convenience

I notice where a small Canadian town - about the size of Sikeston - is accepting only online voting in their upcoming municipal election.

Given the recent massive snafus with the Affordable Care Act website, you would think there would be some major concerns with solely online voting.

Judging from the comments of residents in the small town, they share those concerns.

Having voiced reservations with this emerging process, I suspect the day will come when this new voting is the law of the land.

But of course, before we take this major leap of faith, the feds will have to shell out massive amounts of your tax dollars to assure that everyone has access to voting capabilities through the Internet.

Chalk that up to just one more way to redistribute the wealth in this great nation.

Technology is an amazing advancement in so many aspects of our life. With those tech improvements, our lives have changed though I often question if these changes have been for the better.

An uninformed electorate all too often selects uninformed candidates who are willing to promise the moon for that all-important vote.

But as we should have learned by now, every advancement in technology always breeds a population able and willing to compromise that technology.

So what did you think? Only the good guys are smart? Get a grip.

I'm all for a plan that would potentially reduce a long wait in line to vote but I'm far less certain I want to make it more convenient for someone to sit on their couch drinking their EBT-purchased beer and going online to support the candidate who promises even more government goodies.

If given keys to the treasury, the voters will always vote their self-interests. And when those self-interests empty the treasury, what do we do then?

We can end our national discussion on voter ID laws because this emerging technology will render that movement moot.

And politicians know that.

Voting should be an essential element of commitment in our democracy and a responsibility not lightly taken. And we should remove any and all barriers that could potentially eliminate someone from voting.

But commitment and convenience don't always equate to the same outcome.

If someone - absent any physical barriers - wants to participate in the electoral process, it seems little to ask for them to make the commitment to register to vote by proving they are who they say they are and then taking the responsibility to know where and when to vote. And then finally to vote.

There are countless aspects of our lives that have been made more convenient. But that does not automatically produce an improved outcome.