I just filed my taxes online -- at least the state taxes, on the state website. No paper backups anywhere, I'm not afraid. Why? They have the information anyway, and it's all auditable.
Elections are a different problem. If everyone's votes were public -- or at least public enough to be shared with the government and stored with your identity attached -- then it would be almost the same problem. But because of secret ballots, this means that you have to be right the first time. If the wrong person voted, you can't find out how that person voted. If you deny someone a ballot, you can't just give it to them the next day and have it count. Secrecy is a hard problem as is encryption -- especially when it's about real power. If Russia votes in its candidate for Dancing with the Stars, honestly, who cares? It matters if they elect Dana Rorhabacher to US Congress, though.
The "almost" part was about how a person could be pressured to change their vote after the fact. A court ruling could recover all the documents about how much money you spent. But elections are fundamentally about state of mind -- how can you audit if someone really did vote that way? There are ways, just drawing a contrast as it's not a concern with taxes.
Elections are a different problem. If everyone's votes were public -- or at least public enough to be shared with the government and stored with your identity attached -- then it would be almost the same problem. But because of secret ballots, this means that you have to be right the first time. If the wrong person voted, you can't find out how that person voted. If you deny someone a ballot, you can't just give it to them the next day and have it count. Secrecy is a hard problem as is encryption -- especially when it's about real power. If Russia votes in its candidate for Dancing with the Stars, honestly, who cares? It matters if they elect Dana Rorhabacher to US Congress, though.
The "almost" part was about how a person could be pressured to change their vote after the fact. A court ruling could recover all the documents about how much money you spent. But elections are fundamentally about state of mind -- how can you audit if someone really did vote that way? There are ways, just drawing a contrast as it's not a concern with taxes.
"Kitto daijoubu da yo." - Sakura Kinomoto