Workshop: I remember voting for the first time at the age of 16 in 2025

We are in 2049. In this new society we can vote everywhere at anytime and on any topic; for the construction of a new Mc Donald’s restaurant or for the next president of our nation. We have the tools to do it.

Do we still vote for political partis or for a people? Why don’t we vote for ideas?

One question we debated is to know if the vote should become public, non-anonymous. The public vote is more secure, it ensures you that your vote was validated, cheating isn’t possible anymore. In this case all citizens become members of the parlement. But would the society have to change much to make non-anonymous vote possible? And what about such a change in totalitarian countries?

Is voting important? Yes, of course, but it is the end of a process, the most important which is really what happens before: the debate. New technology could improve the political life. Why don’t we think about some kind of voting period. Our opinions change with time so do our votes.

All this options seem to be interesting and the only way to know if it could work is to experiment. But do we have the right to experiment? When such shifts happen, we can never go back.

Raphaelle et Loïc