Isn’t It Time We Designed An Election For The 21st Century?

The civic ritual of voting in America is an act of nostalgia. The act of casting a ballot, unlike most things in our society, doesn’t ever seem to change. It’s the same as it was when you accompanied your parents to vote, or when they accompanied their parents. This deference to tradition would be worth celebrating if our elections weren’t riddled with hanging chads, imperfect counts, long lines and confusion over who’s registered to vote (not to mention when and where), and if our voter experience didn’t compare so poorly to other, less important 21st century customer experiences. Countries like Canada, Brazil, and Germany use electronic voting that offers accurate and instantaneous results. Why not the United States? Why not design an election for the 21st Century?

Join Future Tense in Washington, D.C., for a happy hour and brainstorm on how to create a better, more efficient, and more just election system.

Follow the conversation online using #FTVotes and by following @FutureTenseNow.

Future Tense is a partnership of Arizona State University, New America, and Slate.

Participants:

Matt Adams
Program Director, IDEO

Jamelle Bouie
Chief Political Correspondent, Slate
@jbouie

Jeremy Epstein
Senior Computer Scientist, SRI International

Dahlia Lithwick
Journalist, Slate
@Dahlialithwick

Lawrence Norden
Deputy Director, Democracy Program, Brennan Center for Justice
@LarryNorden

Moderator:

Mark Schmitt
Director of Studies, New America
Director, Political Reform Program, New America
@mschmitt9