[EM] Iowa to put Internet voting to the test (FWD)

[DEMOREP1 at aol.com]

[An interesting article on Iowa's electronic voting trial and electronic
voting in general. The reporter emphasized my negative quotes
more than I would have liked, but overall a good article.--LFC]

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/305/nation/Iowa_to_put_Internet_voting_to_
the_test+.shtml

The Boston Globe
Iowa to put Internet voting to the test
Adjunct to polls, but purists worry
By Anne E. Kornblut, Globe Staff, 11/01/99


DES MOINES - Chet Culver is the blond-haired son of a US senator, a
promising political star who is going to cause a sensation here tomorrow at
the polls.


But Culver isn't running for election. He is running the election process
itself. And the newfangled way he's doing it is making some people shudder.


For the first time in Iowa history, voters this year can cast their ballots
over the Internet, part of an experimental program that could lay the
foundation for electronic balloting in all 50 states. As the youngest
secretary of state in the country, Culver, 33, is a leading champion of the
techno-strategy, which he hopes will ultimately ''get more young people
involved.''


Culver's test is entirely benign, with voters using Internet connections
alongside their polling stations, and only after they have already cast
ballots the traditional way. What is unnerving some political scientists is
a related idea being debated nationwide: letting people elect officials over
the Internet from home.


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