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Plan to let soldiers vote by e-mail is questioned
By Terry Ganey
Jefferson City Bureau Chief
08/27/2004
JEFFERSON CITY - An election security expert has raised questions about Missouri Secretary of State Matt Blunt's plan to let soldiers at remote duty stations or in combat areas cast their ballots with the help of e-mail.
Bruce Schneier, a board member of the National Committee for Voting Integrity, said a plan that Blunt announced this week seems vulnerable to potential problems. Schneier also said the plan would eliminate the soldier's ability to cast a secret ballot.
"This is troubling," Schneier said.
Blunt announced a plan that would let soldiers in certain locations scan their absentee ballots into e-mail messages that would be transmitted to the Department of Defense. The Defense Department would then fax the ballots to the soldier's local election official.
Current Missouri law allows soldiers in combat zones to request absentee ballots by mail and to fax their completed ballots to local election officials. However, Blunt said that state Rep. Jim Avery, R-Crestwood, who is a National Guard soldier currently on active duty in Iraq, told him that few units have access to fax machines while most had access to computers that could scan and e-mail documents to the United States.
Making personnel in the Defense Department part of the process opens the system to possible mischief, said Schneier.
The National Committee for Voting Integrity, based in Washington, describes itself as "a nonpartisan organization made up of leading technical experts, lawyers, journalists, and citizens." Schneier, who founded a computer security business, Counterpane Internet Security Inc., has worked on electronic voting issues.
"Increasing voter turnout is always a good idea, but this is a dangerous way to go about it," Schneier said.
"We still do not know what safeguards, if any, are in place for the PC (personal computer) and Internet phases of this process," Schneier said. "Is there any end-to-end accounting even for the number of votes cast? Are the paper e-mails sent separately to the counties? Is there any redundancy or auditability at all?"
Spence Jackson, a spokesman for Blunt's office, said it is correct that the soldier loses the right to a secret ballot under the system. But he said that fact is made clear by both the local election officials who send the absentee ballot to the soldier as well as the military officer in charge of voting in the soldier's unit.
"If the soldier is uncomfortable with this process, he or she should not consider this option," Jackson said.
Jackson said the system had several safeguards. Each absentee ballot is numbered, and local election officials note that number when the ballot is sent to the soldier.
"Once the soldier votes it, he or she signs it and it's notarized by voting officers in the military units," Jackson said. "The soldier then transmits it in a PDF file to the federal voting assistance program in the Department of Defense. The soldier and the voting officer in the unit can confer with the office in the Pentagon that the ballot was successfully received there. After officials in the voting assistance office fax it to the local election official, the local election official can confirm that it was sent from the Pentagon on behalf of the soldier."
Jackson said the "ultimate safeguard" is that the county clerk or local election official can compare the signature on the absentee ballot with that on the voter's registration card.
"If the election official believes the signature is forged or there is something amiss, they have the authority under the law to discard the ballot," Jackson said.
Military personnel overseas still have the option of mailing absentee ballots to local election officials. Nether the faxed ballot option nor the e-mailed ballot to the Department of Defense is required by law.
Blunt's office said the procedures are merely options for the soldiers to consider. When Blunt was on active duty in the Navy, he voted in Missouri elections using the absentee ballot system.
">http://www.stltoday.com/stltod...ail+is+questioned
</a>
Plan to let soldiers vote by e-mail is questioned
By Terry Ganey
Jefferson City Bureau Chief
08/27/2004
JEFFERSON CITY - An election security expert has raised questions about Missouri Secretary of State Matt Blunt's plan to let soldiers at remote duty stations or in combat areas cast their ballots with the help of e-mail.
Bruce Schneier, a board member of the National Committee for Voting Integrity, said a plan that Blunt announced this week seems vulnerable to potential problems. Schneier also said the plan would eliminate the soldier's ability to cast a secret ballot.
"This is troubling," Schneier said.
Blunt announced a plan that would let soldiers in certain locations scan their absentee ballots into e-mail messages that would be transmitted to the Department of Defense. The Defense Department would then fax the ballots to the soldier's local election official.
Current Missouri law allows soldiers in combat zones to request absentee ballots by mail and to fax their completed ballots to local election officials. However, Blunt said that state Rep. Jim Avery, R-Crestwood, who is a National Guard soldier currently on active duty in Iraq, told him that few units have access to fax machines while most had access to computers that could scan and e-mail documents to the United States.
Making personnel in the Defense Department part of the process opens the system to possible mischief, said Schneier.
The National Committee for Voting Integrity, based in Washington, describes itself as "a nonpartisan organization made up of leading technical experts, lawyers, journalists, and citizens." Schneier, who founded a computer security business, Counterpane Internet Security Inc., has worked on electronic voting issues.
"Increasing voter turnout is always a good idea, but this is a dangerous way to go about it," Schneier said.
"We still do not know what safeguards, if any, are in place for the PC (personal computer) and Internet phases of this process," Schneier said. "Is there any end-to-end accounting even for the number of votes cast? Are the paper e-mails sent separately to the counties? Is there any redundancy or auditability at all?"
Spence Jackson, a spokesman for Blunt's office, said it is correct that the soldier loses the right to a secret ballot under the system. But he said that fact is made clear by both the local election officials who send the absentee ballot to the soldier as well as the military officer in charge of voting in the soldier's unit.
"If the soldier is uncomfortable with this process, he or she should not consider this option," Jackson said.
Jackson said the system had several safeguards. Each absentee ballot is numbered, and local election officials note that number when the ballot is sent to the soldier.
"Once the soldier votes it, he or she signs it and it's notarized by voting officers in the military units," Jackson said. "The soldier then transmits it in a PDF file to the federal voting assistance program in the Department of Defense. The soldier and the voting officer in the unit can confer with the office in the Pentagon that the ballot was successfully received there. After officials in the voting assistance office fax it to the local election official, the local election official can confirm that it was sent from the Pentagon on behalf of the soldier."
Jackson said the "ultimate safeguard" is that the county clerk or local election official can compare the signature on the absentee ballot with that on the voter's registration card.
"If the election official believes the signature is forged or there is something amiss, they have the authority under the law to discard the ballot," Jackson said.
Military personnel overseas still have the option of mailing absentee ballots to local election officials. Nether the faxed ballot option nor the e-mailed ballot to the Department of Defense is required by law.
Blunt's office said the procedures are merely options for the soldiers to consider. When Blunt was on active duty in the Navy, he voted in Missouri elections using the absentee ballot system.
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