-Caveat Lector- >Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 >From: Press Service <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Say Goodbye to Chad, DoD Tests Internet Voting > >By Jim Garamone >American Forces Press Service > >WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2001 -- There'll be no more chads -- >hanging, pregnant or dimpled -- if a test program using the >Internet is expanded. > >The Voting Over the Internet pilot project was conducted >during the 2000 election cycle. The Federal Voting >Assistance Program sponsored the test in association with >state and county governments. In the test, volunteer >service members from around the world voted using the World >Wide Web. > >"The effort grew out of our voter survey following the 1996 >elections," said Polli Brunelli, director of the Federal >Voting Assistance Program. The cycle saw eligible service >members being allowed to register and, in some cases, vote >by faxing their voting materials to their home counties. >The fax program proved very successful, she said. > >"In the survey, some people asked when they would be able >to vote via the Internet," Brunelli said. "We started >researching it immediately." > >But "Vote by Internet" is easier to say than to pull off. >Ballots must be secret. They must be secure and protected >from tampering. There must be a way for them to mirror the >requirements of paper ballots -- including signatures. > >Brunelli's office built on initiatives already afoot within >DoD. "At the time we started looking at this project, DoD >was developing the Public Key Infrastructure," she said. >PKI allows for secure transmission by use of digital >signatures. Voting officials used this to mimic the steps >required of the paper ballots. > >Voting program officials also had to get their state and >county partners to buy into the program. "They were most >enthusiastic about the idea," Brunelli said. "(County and >state officials) were a part of this from the very >beginning." > >Counties in South Carolina, Texas, Utah -- and Florida -- >participated in the 2000 program. Officials were looking >for about 50 eligible voters from each site to participate. >"This was a proof-of-concept demonstration," Brunelli said. >"We weren't set up for mass voting. This was simply to >demonstrate that this could work." > >Officials set up the system and had third-party testers go >through the process. The testers passed the system, and >state and county officials accepted the results. Voters >came from all five armed services. > >"This system would be great for our seagoing personnel," >Brunelli said. Participants received directions on how to >download the necessary software and how to get their >digital signatures via the DoD Public Key Infrastructure. >Voters could send in their electronic ballots any time >after the ballots were made available. The first vote came >from a Marine on Oct. 12, 2000, and went to Weber County, >Utah. > >"I was in Okaloosa County, Fla., on Election Night," >Brunelli said. "The Internet ballots came in and were >printed out. It worked flawlessly." > >She said a quick after-action review indicates the system >worked well. There was no tampering and the ballots >remained secret. Comments from the participants showed they >were satisfied with the process, with one voter calling it >a "snap." > >Brunelli said her office would work with state, county and >federal officials during the next election cycle if voting >by Internet receives the OK. She said some changes would >have to be made. > >"We would have to adapt the program to comply with the >Americans With Disabilities Act, and we could modify the >program so there would be no need for counties to print out >the ballots," she said. "The ballots could go straight to >tabulation." > >Brunelli said the Federal Voting Assistance Program will >prepare a report about their Voting Over the Internet pilot >project and it should be available in March or early April. > >##end## <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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