Estonia to allow citizens to vote via cellphone by 2011
By Darren Murph 
posted December 13th 2008 2:18AM
posted December 13th 2008 2:18AM
Brutal honesty here: on election day this past November, the entire Engadget staff (well, those of us with US passports) collectively agreed that casting our vote via SMS or some other incredibly simple method would be infinitely more awesome than trudging out in the streets and waiting in hour-long lines. Clearly, some higher-ups in Estonia are on board with that concept, as its Parliament has approved a law that will likely make it the first nation on Planet Earth to give citizens the right to vote by phone in something that matters (American Idol notwithstanding). 'Course, those who choose to take advantage must first obtain a free authorization chip for their handset, which sort of kills the whole "not having to leave your house" aspect of all this. Ah well, at least we're moving in the right direction.
In Soviet Estonia SSR, Cellphone votes YOU!!!!
I wander why Jeb Bush and the state of Florida did'nt think of that before.
The possibilities for...(ahem), the possibilities are endless!
Actually why should be limited by cell phones?
We can just vote via our TV remote control!
Just after an electoral spot jou can just push any button of you remote to vote for THE canditate; should you want to vote for some other candidate you just have to push "menu" insert your 43 digits pin code followed by your social security nr. and by you passport nr multiplied for the square root of the date of you birth and then wait for the list of alternative candidates to upload.
Now Choose you candidate and then confirm your vote by inserting your PUK code divided by the age of your maternal grandmother expressed in months.
The future of democracy is all in the new technologies my friend!
I don't see how 1 chip totally kills it. you could get it on one of your off days before the election, and be all set
I think (I hope) Engadged isn't actually serious about mobilizing voting. I'd say 1/4-1/3 of all votes cast are done so by someone who has no business voting in the first place. I'm actually in favor of having some form of IQ/politics quiz that you must pass before your vote is allowed. Mobile voting will only magnify the problem exponentially. Most educated/responsible voters have no problem getting off their collective asses to actually go to a secure location to vote. Yes, it take a bit of effort - let's keep it that way. It's the only thing keeping at least some of the morons away from the ballots.
Isn't Estonia where all the Stoners live?
No dude, that's Pensylvania Avenue
You can kiss your fair elections good bye. (not that we have had them since before electronic voting)
The "authorization chip" in question is a SIM card that contains a private key file and supports secure authentication. Available for a while now from Estonian mobile carriers.
E-military
The Military of Estonia is introducing a new 21st century based cyber warfare and defence formation in order to protect the vital infrastructure and e-infrastructure of Estonia. Currently the leading organization in the Estonian cyber defence is the CERT (the Computer Emergency Response Team of Estonia), established in 2006, as an organisation responsible for the management of security incidents in .ee computer networks. Its task is to assist Estonian internet users in the implementation of preventive measures in order to reduce possible damage from security incidents and to help them in responding to security threats. The unit deals with security incidents that occur in Estonian networks, are started there, or have been notified of by citizens or institutions either in Estonia or abroad.[15]
On 25 June 2007, Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves met with the president of USA, George W. Bush.[16] Among the topics discussed were the attacks on Estonian e-infrastructure.[17] The attacks triggered a number of military organisations around the world to reconsider the importance of network security to modern military doctrine. On 14 June 2007, defence ministers of NATO members held a meeting in Brussels, issuing a joint communiqué promising immediate action. First public results are estimated to arrive by autumn 2007.[18]
As to the placement of a newly planned NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCD COE), Bush proclaimed the policy of USA as supporting Estonia as this centre's location.[19] In the aftermath of the Cyberattacks on Estonia 2007, plans to combine network defence with Estonian military doctrine, and related NATO plans to create a Cybernetic Defence Centre in Estonia, have been nicknamed the "Tiger's Defence"
E-goverment
Estonia has pursued the development of the e-state and e-government. Internet voting is used in elections in Estonia.[69] The first Internet voting took place in the 2005 local elections and the first in a parliamentary election was made available for the 2007 elections, in which 30,275 individuals voted over the Internet. Voters have a chance to invalidate their vote in traditional elections, if they wish to. In its 2007 Worldwide Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders ranked Estonia 3rd out of 169 countries.
Skype was created by entrepreneurs Niklas Zennström, Janus Friis, and a team of software developers based in Tallinn, Estonia.
Kazaa and FastTrack were created by Niklas Zennström, Janus Friis, and Priit Kasesalu in Estonia and published in the Netherlands
Joost was created by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis
so estonia can pull it off :)
peace out!
good to see estonia taking elections seriously
or not