pretty busy, so don’t have the time to throw down, but thought i’d quickly lay out a few thoughts-
more as a thought experiment than something that could be actually done, but…
why are elections anonymous? while i can see that certain groups might feel pressured if their vote was known, i would think if everyone’s vote was public, there would be much more accountability. votes in the government (supreme court, senate, etc.) are all on record for this very reason. a more transparent election system would also i think encourage more dialog and equality.
as such, i would propose a system where the vote goes into the elections place, then uses their fingerprints to cast their vote. the twist would be that before they make the mark, their finger is dipped in some sort of ink/dye that remains on the hand for the period of voting (say 1 day or a week). this way, there would be no way to have voter fraud (you can’t vote twice, and your print is tied to your identity), and your vote is clearly seen in public (unless you wear gloves) to stimulate further dialog and avoid the them vs. us phenomenon so prevalent in today’s politics.
while i see the possibility for discrimination based on your voting record, but at the same time believe a “what goes around, comes around” kind of mentality could be established in such a system.
R