Many years ago Buckminster Fuller, one of the greatest thinkers, engineers, and observers of life in all its micro and macro forms, suggested that democracy could be expressed more efficiently if people were allowed to vote by phone. In this time of the pandemic there has been a lot to say about voting methods with great emphasis being placed on mail-in ballots. I am surprised that the phone as a vehicle for conveying an individual’s vote has not been mentioned.
Phone numbers have become a kind of fingerprint. An individual’s phone number is used for storing legal records of all kinds, including medical records. We produce products and services reviews, and take surveys by phone. We are able to send and receive cash payments using nothing but our phone numbers. Fraud prevention would be enforceable…when once a phone number was used to cast a vote it could be easily blocked.
In the spirit of Bucky Fuller (who once wrote a book titled “I Am a Verb”) let’s act: One person, one phone number (or text number), one vote.