A reader contacted me yesterday with a question I dont think Ive answered before. Id guess its a question others have had.
The reader wanted to know whether it was possible for people to vote multiple times on our online poll.The question was whether theres a system in place that stops repeat voters.
The answer is ... sort of.
If you try voting a second time from the same computer or IP address, the site will act as if you are registering a second vote, but it will not be recorded by the system. I know, because I double-checked after receiving the readers question. (Full disclosure, that required me to vote a first time, which Ive never done on our site so as not to influence at all a particular outcome. In this case, the vote I registered was for John McCain as the most qualified for president, only because he was trailing at the time. When I tried my second vote, it was for Barack Obama, and it didnt register. There, Democrat conspiracy theorists ... run with it!)
But if you register a second vote from a different computer or address than the first, theres really no way for the system to be able to prevent you from voting. In that case, I guess we like others who conduct online polls are counting on the honesty of users to vote only once and not stuff the ballot box.
Thats one of many reasons I frequently refer to the poll as unscientific and I appreciate that the reader noted as such.
Thanks for asking!
The reader wanted to know whether it was possible for people to vote multiple times on our online poll.The question was whether theres a system in place that stops repeat voters.
The answer is ... sort of.
If you try voting a second time from the same computer or IP address, the site will act as if you are registering a second vote, but it will not be recorded by the system. I know, because I double-checked after receiving the readers question. (Full disclosure, that required me to vote a first time, which Ive never done on our site so as not to influence at all a particular outcome. In this case, the vote I registered was for John McCain as the most qualified for president, only because he was trailing at the time. When I tried my second vote, it was for Barack Obama, and it didnt register. There, Democrat conspiracy theorists ... run with it!)
But if you register a second vote from a different computer or address than the first, theres really no way for the system to be able to prevent you from voting. In that case, I guess we like others who conduct online polls are counting on the honesty of users to vote only once and not stuff the ballot box.
Thats one of many reasons I frequently refer to the poll as unscientific and I appreciate that the reader noted as such.
Thanks for asking!
