Arizona Democrats to Vote on Internet
Thursday December 16 7:54 PM ET
PHOENIX, Ariz. (Reuters) - Voting is now just a mouse click away -- but only if you live in Arizona and are a registered Democrat.
In what officials claim is a national first, the state's Democratic Party chairman signed a deal Thursday with a Garden City, N.Y.,-based company to enable Democrats here to officially vote via the Internet in the March 11th presidential primary election.
Now it's not just a choice of Al Gore (news - web sites) or Bill Bradley (news - web sites). But the Web vs. a paper ballot. ``Internet voting will make voting ... easy, fun and exciting,' said party chairman Mark Fleisher, moments after electronically signing the agreement. ``We are entering a new age, new millennium and a new way of voting.'
According to plans, the state's more than 843,000 Democrats will be able to make their presidential picks from any computer linked to the Internet. Party officials also will set up 40 to 45 terminals at various locations statewide for those without access.
Registered voters will hop online, sign up for a personalized certificate and then be able to cast their ballots using their own special code. The process is expected to take only a few minutes to complete. Paper ballots still will be available at the polls.
The election will be administered by Votation.com using technology by Verisign (NasdaqNM:VRSN - news). Officials declined to reveal the dollar amount of the contract.
State Democratic officials said they began exploring the vote-by-Internet possibility about seven months ago in an effort to boost awareness for the party's primary and increase traditionally poor voter turnout. Seven different companies were interviewed.
About 10,000 registered Democrats voted in the 1996 presidential primary, but officials hope that figure will swell to 50,000 with the computer aid. Targeted are so-called Generation Xers, who commonly stay away from the polls in droves.
``Anything we can do that will increase turnout is a plus,' said state Rep. John Loredo, 32, who represents southwest Phoenix. ``I think it will become a cool thing to do.'
Loredo, an Hispanic leader, also said he feels the idea will catch on in the state's minority communities in the future, spurred by cheaper, more available computers.
But the head of a prominent voter group warned that Arizona and other states thinking about jumping on the information superhighway should look carefully before they leap.
Deborah Phillips, founder and president of the Voting Integrity Project in Arlington, Va., said concerns about voter fraud and hackers are among the issues to be addressed.
She said companies running the Internet elections also need to be better scrutinized. ``There's a lot of jockeying by the companies that put on these elections and they are the ones who are pushing public policy,' Phillips said. ``That's a bad way to do things. Our elections are too important to be sacrificed on the alter of e-commerce.' |
