Nothing scares politicians more than the unknown. Last year as I was advocating that the Internet be used as a medium for casting votes, I met in Washington, D.C., with a senior staffer for a prominent member of the U.S. House of Representatives.While this person agreed it was a disgrace that nearly 60 percent of Americans do not vote in general or in midterm elections, he was unreceptive to new ideas—such as e-voting—as a way to reach out to the nonvoting public.Surprisingly, his opposition was not rooted in the technical and security issues surrounding using the Internet as a voting channel. Rather, he opposed e-voting because it represented the unknown.Political parties spend lots of time and money figuring out the preferences of the vocal, voting minority. The specter of ascertaining, for example, the hot buttons for the millions of 19- to 24-year-olds, many of whom will be eligible to vote for the first time this November, scares politicians to death. This constituency block—obviously comfortable with using the Internet as a voting booth—represents the unknown. For some, it seems democracy is easier to manage when fewer people participate in it.Here’s a prediction: The next president of the United States will be the candidate who most successfully captures the hearts and minds of the unknown—namely independent voters. “Duh, that’s fairly obvious,” I hear readers saying in unison. No argument here. Instead, a bit of history. The best-known independent voting block in the 1996 presidential election was “soccer moms.” On Nov. 7, these sports obsessed, SUV-driving soccer moms will be pushed off the political playing field by yet another difficult to read, independent voting group. A group, in fact, you may know well, because you are a member of it. Yes, a number of prominent pollsters claim that the swing voting block will be you and your peers—the so-called “wired workers.” Typically, wired workers are technophiles living in suburbia with hearts favoring Democrats and wallets favoring Republicans. Hence, the political quandary.As CIOs, you can play a major role next week in deciding the presidential election.Yes, of course, you can flex your political muscle by making sure that you cast a vote. But, more important, by distributing this column to the thousands of IS workers on your staff and encouraging them to do likewise.The choice is yours. Make the most of it. Related content News Amazon to lay off 9,000 more workers, including some at AWS The latest round of Amazon layoffs will impact AWS, Twitch, advertising and PXT, CEO Andy Jassy said. By Jon Gold Mar 20, 2023 3 mins Technology Industry Cloud Computing BrandPost What’s next for network operations Broadcom: 2023 Tech Trends That Transform IT By Serge Lucio, Vice President and General Manager, Agile Operations Division Mar 20, 2023 8 mins IT Leadership Networking BrandPost Digital transformation obstacles: Stubborn challenges, what to do about them Value Stream Management is an increasingly essential approach to strategic transformation initiatives. To help teams more fully capitalize on the opportunities it presents, Broadcom is holding its third annual VSM Summit. By Marla Schimke, Head of Product and Growth Marketing, Broadcom's Enterprise Software Division Mar 20, 2023 3 mins Devops Software Development Feature CEO directives: Top 5 initiatives for IT leaders As organizations change course with economic gyrations, collaboration between IT and business becomes priority No. 1 for CEOs. By Stacy Collett Mar 20, 2023 7 mins IT Leadership Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe