Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Absentee Ballots by Email?

Posted by Hemos on from the how-should-this-work dept.

tordia writes "Bruce Schneier has come out against a plan proposed by the Missouri Secretary of State, Matt Blunt. Blunt's proposal would allow "soldiers at remote duty stations or in combat areas cast their ballots with the help of e-mail." The plan arose when Jim Avery, a Missouri State Representative and National Guard soldier currently on active duty in Iraq, told Blunt that the fax machines required by the current Missouri absentee ballot law are rare, but most soldiers have access to computers. A spokesman for the Secretary of State's office downplays the privacy and security considerations by saying, "If the soldier is uncomfortable with this process, he or she should not consider this option". I agree with Bruce when he says "This is troubling"." Like many things, this is a wonderful idea in theory; it's just that darn implementation that things get...messy.

3 of 385 comments (clear)

  1. Email gateway? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Can't they just use an email -> fax gateway of some sort?

    And, if they plan to use email, this seems like the perfect chance to try out digital signatures. The military could organize it.

    1. Re:Email gateway? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Hell yeah, AFAIK, these guys are in a much better position to judge Bush's foreign policy and the situation in Iraq than a bunch of whiny asshats back home.

      My nephew was in Iraq. His squad was ambushed, he was shot 3 times - in the arm and in both thighs. He just got back home last week with the purple heart, and earned a medal of valor for setting off a flare after the ambush (which took out their communications as well).

      Despite the fact he was wounded in Iraq, he doesn't consider it an unjust war, and plans to vote for Bush. He told me he saw first-hand the difference we've made in that country, and there's no way anyone can convince him that the war was wrong.

  2. Re:Some thoughts by gclef · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Unfortunately (or fortuantely, depending on your point of view), the federal government doesn't run the vote. The states do. So, for the Armed Forces to run a voting system themselves, they'd have to abide by 50 different sets of laws about how the vote should be run...basically making setting it up impossible.

    Honestly, the simplest system (absentee balloting) seems to be the best in this case, and has worked fine for years. Why we're trying to replace something that isn't broken is beyond me.