Online Voting Earns High Marks From Users

These days, most Americans can do everything from order groceries to line up a date on the Internet. But voting usually still requires a trip to the polls or requesting an absentee ballot.

That may be about to change.

Internet voting earned high marks during a test conducted last week in Washington’s Thurston County. Ninety-four percent of participants in a mock presidential primary conducted by VoteHere.net said they’d like to have Internet voting as an option in future elections.

During the test, votes were cast from homes and offices, as well as from several official polling sites where Internet equipment was stationed alongside conventional election equipment.

Aside from convenience and potential cost advantages, another benefit of Internet voting is blazing speed. In the Thurston County test, results were posted 14 minutes after the polls closed.

Here are a few other Web sites to explore:

* Gotcha: Few issues are more nettlesome than asking friends or relatives to settle old debts.

Two new Web sites may take some of the grief out of the process. Paypal.com and payme.com enable creditors to request payment and conduct the transaction entirely online.

While both sites offer a buffer, ultimately it’s still up to you to get deadbeats to pay up.

http://www.paypal.com

http://www.payme.com

* Fasten seatbelts: For gamers who feel the need for speed, there’s a new game available for download or online play free from WildTangent.

“Speedway” features three cars with unique handling characteristics and a large detailed track with an option for solo play or a computer-controlled opponent.

The game, which consumes less than 3MB of hard drive space, also features multiple camera views and dynamic treadmarks.

http://www.wildtangent.com