Does the Internet represent the future of voting? - Technology - Brief Article

Elections of the future may be more convenient, accurate, and faster for voters and election officials if researchers can improve the technology for voting via the Internet. Another factor is whether election officials can entice voters to use the technology and make it accessible to them. With interest increasing in voting reform and modernization since the 2000 presidential election, researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), Atlanta, have begun studies of the social and technical issues related to voting via the Internet.

"People wonder why they can't vote over the Internet if they can buy things over the Internet," indicates Betty Whitaker, a principal research engineer at GTRI. "But then they consider the possibility of a security breach and its effects.... We believe that, over time, as the Internet evolves, and the research and the hardware and software evolve, researchers will be able to resolve some of the concerns about Internet voting."

The GTRI Internet Voting Research Team envisions that Internet voting will occur in phases during the next decade. Within the next few years, military personnel casting absentee ballots probably will be allowed to vote via the Internet. The Federal Voting Assistance Program conducted a pilot project in November, 2000, involving 84 overseas voters. The success of this project provided encouragement for researchers in Internet voting, yet pointed to some problems in the system, such as lost passwords.

By 2008, researchers predict, Internet voting for absentee ballots will be adopted in a few states. Moreover, voters may be able to cast their ballots at automated teller machines (ATMs) and at kiosks in post offices and malls. Then, by 2012, some states--for example, Oregon, which already uses only mail-in ballots--will be the first to adopt Internet voting, researchers say.

One of the primary issues related to Internet voting is access. "It is the `Digital Divide,' which we define for now as those who have Internet access from home or work and those who don't," explains researcher Marlit Hayslett-Keck. "In the future, it may be an issue of who has broadband and who

uses dial-up access."

Current estimates indicate that about half of all Americans do not have Internet access, and a much smaller percentage of them have high-speed broadband access. The question of whether citizens are comfortable with Internet use is an even more complicated issue.

Another issue being researched at GTRI is how Internet voting will affect voter turnout. Will different segments of the population turn out differently? Legal issues abound, too. Internet voting would require judicial review for compliance with the Voting Rights Act, as well as various other state and Federal voting laws. Some laws would have to be changed in order to enable Internet voting.

Yet another issue is uniformity vs. personalization. "The opportunity exists to support individual needs and preferences in the user interface," GTRI research scientist Bob Simpson points out. "For example, can older voters increase the font size on their ballots?" He believes Internet voting could allow disabled persons the ability to participate in the same manner as other voters. "It's not uncommon for disabled persons to have to give up their secret ballot to be able to participate.... Also, any separate equipment for disabled voters is usually less maintained and efficient. So that's another argument to make it possible for them to participate in the same process as other voters."

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