The race for the next president of South Korea is heating up and with that the population of "thumb people," who are cell-phone users who can send a detailed text message in the blink of an eye is also growing. Cell phones and text messaging are becoming so big right now that mobile-voting is now being considered in this election. In one of the world's most tech-savvy countries, where an estimated 87 percent of people own at least one cell phone, mobile voting can be considered as one of the best options to lure young voters to vote. South Korea is not the first country to implement text-message voting. Switzerland did it in its general elections in 2005, with nearly 17,000 people voting via computer or cell phone. And while overall turnout was low in the UNDP primaries, with only 20 percent of registered voters turning up at the ballot boxes, votes sent in via text message counted for nearly 70 percent of all votes cast. That's how successful this has been in the past.

While this method of voting is considered to be fast and futuristic, it does have its share of problems with it. Mobile voting opens the electoral process to wider participation but it also creates potential voting irregularities that can significantly undermine election results.With this new system anyone can register to send in a vote via text message, voting for a candidate less likely to win in the primaries. Voters can sabotage elections by intentionally voting for the weaker candidate in a primary if they get access to registration for the text message voting system. There are also fears of voting fraud. But whatever said, this system would be really simple and hassle free and even secure. Most democracies have less than 50% of the eligible voters actually coming to vote. However if SMS is permitted, then this percentage would shoot up dramatically and ensure a more successful democracy. Even politics calls for a big time change today and this would be a good and effective start.

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