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| Missouri Plan to Let Military Cast Votes by E-Mail Draws Criticism |
| 2004-08-27 |
| A plan to make the presidential battleground of Missouri the first state to allow military voters serving in combat zones such as Iraq to cast their absentee ballots via e-mail is renewing concerns about the security of online voting. Missouri Secretary of State Matt Blunt, a Republican running for governor, announced the plan Wednesday, saying that "simplifying the voting process for these heroes is the least we can do." The move surprised some computer security experts and voting watchdog groups, who said yesterday that the new rules could lead to Election Day fraud. Under a deal with the Defense Department, Blunt's office said, Missouri voters serving in designated combat areas will have the option of filling out absentee ballots, scanning them into a computer file and e-mailing the scanned document back to the Defense Department. The department will fax the ballot to local Missouri election officials. Missouri is the first state to adopt such a system, according to the Defense Department, which sees it as a way to ensure that mail delays do not disenfranchise military voters. "This provides an alternative . . . for citizens who believe the regular absentee ballot cannot be received, voted and returned by mail in time to be counted," said Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, a department spokeswoman. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #9 The move surprised some computer security experts and voting watchdog groups, who said yesterday that the new rules could lead to Election Day fraud. But court-ordered delays for poll closings in St. Louis are okay... |
| Posted by: Pappy 2004-08-27 10:13:43 PM |
| #8 Hmmm.... only sure thing is a paper ballot written with a DNA sample in the ink, backed up by a sworn confession of existence. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-08-27 6:28:37 PM |
| #7 If this politician was a DemocRAT do you think WaPO wouild have disclosed his party affiliation as early as the second sentence, if at all? Yes, they would. WaPo generally does that for both sides, and it's pertinent -- it helps the story (in a cynical way, but I'm a cynical bastard sometimes) to know that factoid. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2004-08-27 5:33:46 PM |
| #6 . . .individual standing in line at the voting station, alive or 'dead'. Don : That is current reality. Remember there was some "stiffness" to some of the votes coming out of the So Dakota Indian reservations polling places in 2002 that cost John Thune a senate seat. |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-08-27 5:19:58 PM |
| #5 What if we had military personnel voting in Chad? Could happen, ya know. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-08-27 4:33:49 PM |
| #4 Don't know about your circumstances but here in New Mexico, the poll watchers are not permited to ask for verifying identification of the voter. Can't ask for more of the troops than you can of individual standing in line at the voting station, alive or 'dead'. |
| Posted by: Don 2004-08-27 4:24:49 PM |
| #3 who said yesterday that the new rules could lead to Election Day fraud. As if that isn't happening now with the snobirds voting in both New York and Florida among other things.... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-08-27 2:53:18 PM |
| #2 If they want to, with existing technology, they could make this system airtight. First of all, they could use a cheap, common, PC video camera to show their face. A card reader could show a picture of the service member from their military ID card at the same time. Their military records would also instantly show their "official residence" and "home of record", which may not be the same place, but matters in voting location. Then, on the Missouri side, they could confirm that he/she is indeed on the voter rolls for a given district. And THEN, they could ask him/her to push a single keyboard key to indicate their vote for an item they see on their secure unit computer screen. And confirm their correct vote with a Y/N keypress. If done properly, it would take only as long as a traditional vote, and be unchallengeable. Everything, except their actual vote keypress, would be observable to representatives of either party, or even the UN. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2004-08-27 1:40:02 PM |
| #1 Missouri Secretary of State Matt Blunt, a Republican running for governor, If this politician was a DemocRAT do you think WaPO wouild have disclosed his party affiliation as early as the second sentence, if at all? Nope, no bias here... |
| Posted by: Raj 2004-08-27 1:17:58 PM |