This is not exactly yesterday's news, but I only came across it this morning, and it is just too good to pass on. It's not exactly every day you read about a country passing legislation to enable its citizens to vote using their mobile phones!

From the article:

Estonia has become the world’s first nation to recognize mobile suffrage after passing legislation to allow its citizens the ability to cast their votes in the 2011 parliamentary elections with their cell phones.

This is the second time Estonia has adopted such an innovative, pro-tech law, having given Estonians the ability to vote in the parliamentary elections over the Internet for the first time last year.

There are obvious concerns about the security of such a system, but they report to have ran an independent security audit which addressed and cleared all such concerns and also claimed the system “is the most secure way to authenticate digital signatures.”.

Just imagine voting with no queues, no going to the election centre, no hassle! It certainly looks like a very promising way to address a big problem with elective processes everywhere in the world; that of participation! If you eliminate the hassle of participating in the vote, it makes the job of convincing people to vote much easier, and thus makes the process a whole lot more democratic.

I imagine it will be a while before these sort of services will appear in Greece, where beaurocracy in the public sector can sometimes ruin your whole day, but I am glad there are bright examples abroad we can learn from!

As a side note, 2009 really does look like the year mobile services, beyond the ordinary we've had so far, will really take off, as we begin to realise just how many aspects of our physical and digital life can benefit from mobility, and ubiquitous access via the mobile device, which has by now become omnipresent. I just can't wait!