Are You In or Out?

INTRICT Diaries - Week 9

"An input and an output can never be separated. They must always be together for them to function"

In this week of our INTRICT meeting we tackled on Input devices.

An Input device is anything that can enter a data into a computer or any other electronic output device. Such examples are a keyboard in which the data you enter is text, A computer mic is also an input device because it also enters data in the form of sound, A PC video camera (more popular as Webcam) is also an input device that enters data such as video, A digital camera also enters data such as pictures, and much much more devices are existing in this technologically evolving world.

As a starter, Sir Oli made us watch a video about the electronic voting (or e-voting) scheme which will be experimented on the ARMM elections. Then he discussed about two possible input devices the government is planning to implement on the ARMM electronic elections, It could be either the DRE (Direct Reading Electronic) or the Optical Mark Reader (OMR).



1. The DRE is a proposed e-voting device which makes voters select their candidates by using a touch screen technology. When the voter has made it's vote, he/she will just have to press a button and wait for a small paper to print out of the DRE. That paper contains whoever he/she voted then he/she just needs to drop the small paper in the ballot box before exiting the precinct.




2. The OMR is another proposed e-voting device scans light patterns on paper. These papers are similar to when we took our college entrance test or diagnostic exams. We shade our answer and our paper will be "electronically read". The OMR is the one that read our sheets. The process on voting will be that voters will get an answer sheet containing choices of candidates they wants. They just need to shade their choice of candidate and when their done voting, they will just give to the election officials they're sheet and the officials will put it in the ballot box. When canvassing comes, the officials just have to enter the answer sheets into the OMR.

Advantages of e-voting:

• Reliable - The chances of cheating can diminished. BEAT THAT CORRUPT OFFICIALS! Although this won't be reliable for OMR.
  
• Speed of data capture improves - Devices like the DRE can lessen processing time. It can even abolish the process of Canvassing, which can be a possible loophole for cheating
• Accurate and Correct - With e-voting, the device makes sure that the user voted a valid candidate. Because Filipinos love "Kalokohan", they would put names that are not on the candidates' list.
• Completeness - e-voting makes sure that the voter has completed all the necessary items to be answered. Many Filipinos leave many blanks on the voting sheets causing imbalance in vote counts for candidates.
• WOW I LIKE IT - Because of their user-friendliness, voters understand the convenience of e-voting.
  

Disadvantages:

Every Advantage has got it's competing counterpart, the Disadvantages (Most of them though counter the efficiency of DRE):

• The DUGYOT Factor - There are many dugyots in the country. Dugyot meaning unhygienic. This is a big threat for DRE devices. There's a greater possibility that the DRE will end up KADIRI. Many would not care and just press a button, after they pick their noses or wiped their asses. YUCK! What about those pressing the DRE machine? The touch screen's now full of booger and other personal dirt! Eeew... Better bring gloves and either an alcohol or sanitizer when the government decides to use this one. In fact, mag benta ka ng hygiene tools during elections. KIKITA KA!
• Disability Considerations - What about those with disabilities like a broken arm or hand? They are going to have a hard time. The same thing goes for the old folks. They won't really get to manipulate technology as easy as us.
  

  "You can't teach an old dog new tricks"

• Cost and Life of Device - It is a fact that devices like the DRE won't last a day. When election ends, the DRE most likely are now dirty and destroyed. Because there are some that press really hard that it increases the possibility of getting broken plus, the Dugyot factor can be relaative with this disadvantage. The governement should also consider the number of people to vote and how long would it take for e-voting to complete the process. IMAGINE, how many DRE devices would the government supply for each precinct? How many voters are registered per Precinct? And how many precincts are there in the Country? THAT'S A BIG FINANCIAL CRISIS.
  
• Environmental Capability - Safety and Security of the devices is a must. Places like Basilan or NPA dominated areas are a great risk to place e-voting devices.
• Amount of Data to be stored - Data Storage is a big problem for e-voting devices. Would you just imagine the number of candidates running for a position, the number of positions there are, and the number of candidates each voter must vote. A party list for example, has an estimate 3000 parties running every elections, Fit that in a DRE or an OMR Sheet! This might make the DRE have a VEEEERRY LONG SCROLLBAR, and the OMR Sheets might become Paperback books! hahahahaha