Question of the Quarter:

"How might computers solve the dilemma of our last presidential election?"

Computers are precisely designed to solve the kind of problem that the last presidential election posed. It is amazing that the United States of all countries—with its high level IT sophistication—could not develop a simple IT solution for the presidential election. In the age of the Internet anyone can log in.

People can register and vote online on election day. It is that simple. With computer voting you can be almost 100 percent sure that you actually vote for the right person, and that it will be counted. There are several ways we can apply IT to the process.

First, voters should have the opportunity to register online and vote online through the Internet. Or they could register online, get a pin number and vote from home through the phone system by using the pin and social security numbers.

If they have to go to the voting booth to register, they could use touch screen technology. The names of the candidates would be listed on one screen. With a special pen, they would simply touch the name or number of the chosen candidate. Finally, for those who are computer-phobic, give them pen and paper. The recount process, in that case, would be limited to about one percent because the other 99 percent would be accurate and perfect.