Automated voting is not without its doubters. There are losing election candidates who still complain of getting cheated of electronically cast votes.

Brazil's president and candidate for reelection, Jair Bolsonaro, doesn't trust vote-counting machines and still wants paper ballots to be counted, arguing that electronic votes lack physical proof.

Online voting has its fair share of non-believers for being vulnerable to manipulation. A wildlife conservation group's past virtual elections were said to be marred by irregularities when Russian votes appeared and an attempt by Australians to rig it was detected, according to Agence France-Presse.

Nevertheless, organizer Forest & Bird has started its annual New Zealand Bird of the Year contest and online voting is currently underway.

Vying for online votes intended to raise awareness on the country's native birds are the Rockhopper penguin, HihiStitchbird, Puteketeke Australasian crested grebe, Pipiwharauroa Shining cuckoo,
Korimako Bellbird, Riroriro Grey warbler, Papango Scaup and many more. Of course, the birds don't know that they are being voted on by their non-feathered fans.

The bird with the most online votes at the close of voting on 31 October will be declared New Zealand's Bird of the Year for 2022, AFP reported.

Katmai National Park's annual online voting also was reportedly marred by fraud. Candidate Holly beat rival 747 in the semifinal round of balloting but canvassers threw out several thousand suspicious votes for the winner and reversed the result in favor of 747, NPR and Smithsonian Magazine reported.

The 20-year-old, 1,200-pound bear named after the jumbo plane model eventually won the Alaska park's annual Fat Bear Week 2022 contest by beating a 6-year-old female bear named 901 in the 11 October final balloting by more than 10,000 online votes.

747 rightfully earned the title of the fattest brown bear in the park though unaware of the virtual votes it got from humans.

WJG @tribunephl_wjg
WITH AFP