U.S. expat cybervoting

[Taro Toporific]

U .S. to test expat cybervoting
Int'l Herlad Triubune /Friday, July 25, 2003 WASHINGTON
.... As many as 100,000 American military personnel and civilians abroad will have the opportunity to cast their vote via the Internet in elections next year...initially, the program will be limited to registered voters who have access to Microsoft Windows-based computers that can connect to the Internet, and are from states and counties that agree to participate in the program...

[GomiGirl]

I thought voting was supposed to be anonymous.. this leads to a whole heap of privacy issues.

[Taro Toporific]

I thought voting was supposed to be anonymous.. this leads to a whole heap of privacy issues.

Windoze voting..bah...That's the Slashdot conclusion too...

Slashdot | Unauditable Voting Machines
Slashdot | 26 Jul 2003

[Taro Toporific]

I thought voting was supposed to be anonymous.. this leads to a whole heap of privacy issues.

American Community Security Update - August 2003
Secure Electronic Registration and Voting Experiment


Are you a Uniformed Services member or dependent? Are you a U.S. citizen living overseas?

In 2004, you can take part in an exciting new initiative called SERVE (Secure Electronic Registration and Voting Experiment), which will let eligible U.S. citizens vote from any Windows-based computer with Internet access, anywhere in the world!

The Secure Electronic Registration and Voting Experiment, or SERVE, is a project aimed at providing Uniformed Services members and overseas citizens the ability to register, vote and check their status throughout the absentee voting process. The Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) wants you to be able to exercise your democratic right in a safe, convenient, reliable and timely manner, by bringing the voting booth to you through the Internet.

The FVAP has taken all by-mail absentee election functions, and placed them on the Internet. Anyone with a Windows-based computer and an Internet browser will be able to vote without worrying if your ballot will arrive on time. You will even be able to check the status of your registration, your ballot request and see if your vote was counted.

SERVE will let you:

-- Register to vote
-- Check the status of your registration, your ballot availability, and your
voted ballot

-- Request your absentee ballot
-- Vote

Find out how you can participate by visiting this site: http://www.serveusa.gov.

--0--
Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2003 05:55:51 -0700 (PDT)
To: Subscribers <subscribers-tokyoacs@state.gov>
From: American Embassy Tokyo <tokyoacs@state.gov>
Subject: American Community Security Update - August 2003

[cstaylor]

I thought voting was supposed to be anonymous.. this leads to a whole heap of privacy issues.

The act itself doesn't have to be anonymous, but the correlation between citizen and vote should be...

[Blah Pete]

I thought voting was supposed to be anonymous.. this leads to a whole heap of privacy issues.

The old system required sending in an application months before any election and I never made the deadline. When applying for an absentee ballot by mail you had to provide all info so there was never much privacy.

One big issue now is that you have to declare a home state in the U.S. which may in some states make you liable to pay state income tax. With the state of the economy many states are looking for any extra revenue.

[GomiGirl]

I thought voting was supposed to be anonymous.. this leads to a whole heap of privacy issues.

The act itself doesn't have to be anonymous, but the correlation between citizen and vote should be...

Absoutely. Each citizen can vote only once and fake voting of imaginary citizens needs to be avoided.

I know that these days people wear their political affiliations like a badge but a truely free election is one where your vote is secret. How can this happen with on-line voting?

I don't want to be potentially persecuted for voting against the government of the day.

[Big Booger]

I have a question about this cyber voting?? Where do we go, and how do we do it? I want to vote in the coming 2004 elections but I am at a loss as to how to do it??

[omae mona]

I have a question about this cyber voting?? Where do we go, and how do we do it? I want to vote in the coming 2004 elections but I am at a loss as to how to do it??

So who are you voting for? If I like your answer, I'll help you. No, seriously, though, here are some juicy morsels of info from the latest US Embassy newsletter.

Voter Registration: Unregistered absentee voters should request their ballots at least 60 days before the election and registered voters at least 45 days before the election. Remember, voter registration can be affected or cancelled for several reasons: not voting for a period of time, changed residence since the last registration or election, changed name since the last registration or election, or changing political party preference (primary elections only) since the last registration. Also, registering to vote at a new place of legal residence will cancel your registration at your previous residence and might cause you to incur state or local tax liabilities.

Legal Voting Residence: Your legal voting residence address (item 3 of the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) SF 76) helps determine the type of ballot a local election official sends to you. So, even if the home has been sold, rented or is no longer there because the site has been redeveloped, that address continues to be your legal voting residence for voting purposes as long as you continue claiming that state as your legal residence. Determining a voting residence is a concern to many. Some citizens do not know where they should be voting and what state they should claim as their home of legal voting residence.

The FVAP website at http://www.fvap.gov provides downloadable Guidelines For Members Of The Uniformed Services And Family Members and Guidelines for Citizens Residing Outside the United States. Select I Want to Vote from the FVAP home page, then select Residency Guidelines. These are only general guidelines to help determine state of legal residence for voting purposes.

Notarizing Voting Materials: Always check your state instructions to determine whether your state requires a witness or notary on the FPCA and/or the ballot return envelope. The Embassy or our Consulates will provide notary services for voting materials free of charge

Where To Send It: Did you know that if you send your FPCA or the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB) to the wrong local election official, it may use up precious time needed to get your application or ballot delivered and may affect the chances of your vote being received on time to be counted? For example, if you send your FPCA to the County Clerk and the state requires you to send it to the Registrar of Voters your FPCA may take more time to be delivered as it is forwarded to the correct office. This may cause a delay in getting your FPCA processed by the local election office. Similarly, if you are an overseas voter and you use the FWAB and mail it to the wrong office other than the one instructed to you by the state, your FWAB may need to be forwarded and may not arrive on the time required by state law to be counted. Each state has its own specific office for receiving absentee voting materials.

Postage for Mailing From Overseas: The FPCA does not require postage for voting materials if mailed in the U.S. postal system, including all U.S. military post offices (APO, FPO) overseas as well as diplomatic pouches. Many Embassies and Consulates have access to U.S. military post offices. Those that have access will accept the FPCA and give it to the U.S. military post office. The FPCA may also be sent postage-free through the diplomatic pouch at Embassies and Consulates.

Electronic Transmission: Visit http://www.fvap.gov, select State By State Instructions, and find out if your state allows electronic transmission of voting materials. If so, use this method to expedite processing of your voting materials. Most states that permit faxing of the voted ballot require the voter to sign a waiver of his or her right of a secret ballot. After faxing, immediately mail the original signed and dated hardcopy. International toll-free fax numbers are listed on the FVAP website. From the FVAP home page, select Electronic Transmission (faxing) for a list of toll-free fax numbers from over 50 countries.

Note that electronic transmission is about faxes; haven't seen any vote-by-Internet information. Just as well since it would probably be run, with no audit trail, by some company like Diebold (motto: "Committed to delivering Ohio's electoral votes to the President").

[donut bringer]

Man... That is just way too much crap that has to be done to vote. I have a feeling that the Bush administration set all this policy so most ex-pats who aren't spoon-fed their news with constant pro-Bush propaganda BS have a harder time voting against him in the coming election.

Or maybe it was in place before Bush was in office. I dunno. But I'd like to blame his administration, because it's just so much damn fun.