[EM] Internet Voting at UC Davis (FWD)

[DEMOREP1 at aol.com]

Campaign for Digital Democracy

Dane Waters at the Initiative and Referendum Institute
(http://www.iandrinstitute.org/) just forwarded this news item to me, and
now I'm forwarding it to you.

When the students of UC Davis are ready to vote online in real elections,
will the election systems of California be ready for them?

Regards,

Marc Strassman
Director of New Business Development, Political Jurisdictions
Votation.com


Online voting makes debut this week at UC-Davis         

Updated 12:00 PM ET November 15, 1999

By Mike Mcdaniel The California Aggie U. California-Davis (U-WIRE) DAVIS,
Calif. -- For the first time in the history of UC Davis, students voting
in the campus elections will be able to do so from the comfort of a
computer. 
 
That's right - ASUCD has joined the ranks of the technologically elite by
eliminating paper and Scantron ballots from the UCD campus.  Beginning
tomorrow at 8 a.m., students can log on to the World Wide Web and vote
online at <http://elections.ucdavis.edu>.  ASUCD President Phong La
believes the new voting system will be beneficial. "Voter turnout will
increase with online voting," he said. "The new process gives students
more time to vote. (Students) can vote at home or on campus.  "On other
campuses that have switched to online voting, voter turnout has
increased," he continued.  In an effort to ease the process of voting on
campus, the Memorial Union computer lab will be available only for voting
Tuesday and Wednesday. ASUCD has also arranged for two computers to be
placed inside the ASUCD Coffee House for student voting.

Katie Mullane, the Elections Committee chairperson, said that she expects
the process to run smoothly.  "This is a brand-new system and the first
time that we've done anything online," she said. "The MU computer lab has
about 30 computers, and voting takes about five minutes so there shouldn't
be a problem. Because there are only two computers in the Coffee House,
there might be some lines that form there."

The change to electronic elections was spurred by the elimination of
registration card stickers. Students no longer receive a color-coded
sticker to place on their registration card, forcing ASUCD to initiate
alternative voting protocol.  In the past, ASUCD election workers could
check the sticker to ensure current registration. Now, students will need
to use a Kerberos password obtained from Information Technology's room
inside the Peter J. Shields Library in order to vote in the election. 


According to Mullane, obtaining the password to vote is not a long, 
drawn-out process.  "Students can vote using the same password that they
use to check their grades or look at their transcript," Mullane said. "If
they don't have the password yet, they can go to the Information
Technology room in the library."  Mullane said the ASUCD Elections
Committee is trying to make the process as easy as possible. "When a
student is voting on the ballot measures, there will be a link so they can
read the text of the measure," she said.  The elections committee has also
made a detailed handout that explains the voting process for every
computer lab on campus. 


She added that anyone with questions can go to election headquarters, 
located in 345 MU.  The Internet site will be up and running from 8 a.m.
tomorrow until 6 p.m. Wednesday. At that time, students will no longer be
able to vote.

(C) 1999 The California Aggie via U-WIRE


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