he prospect of voters one day casting ballots on the Internet makes some people nervous. It shouldn't. People shop on the Net, bank on the Net, get information about politicians on the Net, and conduct much of their business in cyberspace - so why not vote out there?
Purists wince at what seems like a blow to the civic tradition of going to the polling place. But on-line voting is being considered as an addition to, not a replacement for, the old-fashioned ballot. It would be a convenience - like a ride to the polls or an absentee ballot - to make voting easier.
Tests this week in Iowa and earlier this year in the state of Washington indicate that voter anonymity can be maintained and the system can be secured against fraud. More testing will have to be done before people vote from home computers in a national election, but the innovation is probably inevitable. Chet Culver, Iowa's secretary of state, figures it will happen in 10 years.
Culver wanted a trial run in his state to fire up young voters ''intimidated by the current process.'' Only 15 percent of people age 18 to 24 vote in US elections. The purist who remembers the 1950s junior high civics course might want to boot these young people into the polls, but speaking their technological language might work better.
The convenience of voting from home or from computers in libraries and other public buildings just might inspire all voters, who have been woefully apathetic: Even in presidential election years turnout is less than 50 percent. Culver notes that America ranks 137th for voter participation among the world's 167 democracies.
Turnout drops still lower in off-year elections like the one held on Tuesday, when most of the races involve municipal offices. In Boston, only 59,563 people, or 24.5 percent of the city's 243,184 registered voters, went to the polls.
Purists worried about the blow the Internet might inflict on civic tradition should consider the pummeling democracy is taking from a turned-off electorate. Every tool of the communications age should be used to restart that vital engine.
