City Council candidate Craig Hammerman wants the city government to have better transparency and accessibility to residents as he campaigns to represent Brooklyn's 39th Council District.

Inspired by President Obama's initiatives to bring government directly to the people, Hammerman says that holding elections over the Internet would increase voter participation. He proposes using the web to shatter machine politics and their control over city government such as political parties, community boards, Council speakership, and judgeships through online elections.

"Just like the Internet has transformed the media, shopping and business, now it can be used to transform our government," he said. "The Obama campaign proved that the Internet can increase the participation of ordinary people in their government, democratize campaign fundraising, build a political organization run by regular citizens, and educate the public about the many important issues that affect our everyday lives."

Hammerman noted New York State's dismal voter participation numbers from 2006, which ranked the state at 43 out of 50 states in voter turnout. His reasoning for the lack of citizen participation is the state's restrictive voting system. He believes that reforming the election process by allowing voters to cast their ballots online will bring a spike in voter turnout.

"This plan will also significantly broaden public participation in our local community boards by allowing Internet membership, online discussion, and web voting on issues that come before the boards," he added. "We need to take bold strides forward if we are ever going to restore the people's faith in local government. The way to do this is by reconnecting the people to the decision-making process that shape our everyday lives."

In response to concerns over the reliability of Internet voting, Hammerman reiterated that online elections have been held worldwide and during the last two presidential elections. In 2004, Americans living overseas were permitted to vote in the general election over the web and online elections were held last year during the Democratic Primary.

Internet voting has caught on with the City Department of Education, with public school parents set to vote online later this year for the city's Community and Citywide Education Councils.

As this new system continues to develop, Hammerman recalled the previous efforts in the city's history to bring more citizen participation in government.

"When John Lindsay was our mayor he dreamed of setting up 'little City Halls' in storefronts around New York, so that voters in all five boroughs would have grassroots access to city government,” Hammerman said. “Now, thanks to the unifying power of the Internet, we can make this great dream a reality."

Hammerman has served as district manager of Community Board 6 since 1993. Brooklyn's 39th Council District covers Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill and Borough Park.