Election uncertainty may boost calls for e-voting initiatives

Former Federal Election Commission member Trevor Potter expects the voting irregularities that occurred in Florida to increase the pressure on states and election boards to move toward Internet voting.

"I think the situation in Florida will increase the push for change," Potter said last Friday as part of a panel discussion on Internet voting hosted by the National Civic League (NCL). "First, the mechanics of the current system are cumbersome and not perfect ... and there has been this huge increase in absentee balloting ... and we don't like the uncertainty of it all."

The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) echoed concerns about a voting system built on punch cards in a press release. ITAA President Harris Miller argued that the voting controversy swirling around the presidential election makes the case for greater use of technology in American democracy, although he did not call for Internet-based voting.

"E-government cannot be built on a house of punched cards," Miller said. "We believe that voters and our system of free elections will be better served by using technology that removes doubt by capturing and recording voter choices automatically.

"As events of the past few days remind us, our civic institutions suffer when technology stands still. As a practical matter, punch cards were first used in the 1890 census. It's time to move on."

But electronic-voting companies and state election officials must overcome a hurdle before Internet voting becomes an alternative voting method: trust.

Election.com, which provided the technology for the first test of Internet voting in Arizona earlier this year, hailed its experiment in the Democratic primary as a success. But other experts say there were security holes in the test. In October, a programming glitch kept hundreds of people from voting in the world's first international cyber election for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

Election.com fixed the glitch in a day, but pundits say that episode and the security issues in the Arizona vote underscore continuing questions about Internet voting.

"Based on my experience of talking with election representatives ... none are enthusiastic about certifying Internet voting systems," said Richard Schum, project director for the national conference on Internet voting for the Internet Policy Institute, which is preparing a report on the subject for release next month.

Executives from Election.com and VoteHere.net, who also participated in the NCL panel, said they do not expect to see Internet voting in the immediate future.

VoteHere.net Chairman Richard Green said his company is creating technology designed to address the security and accuracy concerns of election officials and the public. "We are advocating a step-by-step process that will instill confidence in the public," he said.

An actor in the "Weekend Update" skit of NBC's "Saturday Night Live" illustrated the challenges Internet voting faces in an election in which a "butterfly ballot" in Florida allegedly confused thousands of voters. "Internet voting? Oh yeah," the actor said, "old people will feel really comfortable voting over the Internet. My grandfather is afraid of his answering machine."