Inform Your Legislators About the Threats Posed by Internet, Email and Fax Voting!
Download the e-packet which includes testimony from leading computer scientists about electronic ballot transmission, articles from mainstream media and a sample letter to your legislators.
 
Computer scientist Internet voting statement.
Statement on Internet, Email and Fax voting in Washington State by leading computer scientist, Dr. Barbara Simons.
Internet Voting, Still in Beta, The New York Times.
Broad Concerns About Internet Voting, The New York Times.
Pentagon Cancels Internet Voting Test, MSNBC.
Electricity Grid in US Penetrated by Spies, The Wall Street Journal.
A New Approach to China, The Google Blog.
Voter Action Internet voting statement.
Sample cover letter to legislators.
Talking Points on HB 2483 and SB 6238.
 
Current Legislation
 
Washington: Update
On January 11, 2010, Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed introduced legislation in the Washington House of Representatives and Washington State Senate (HB 1624 and SB 5522) pursuing the implementation of an internet voting pilot program for military and overseas voters. Reed’s proposal would allow for military and overseas voters to cast their votes through a website using their own laptops, which would mark the first such voting system in the country.
Reed previously introduced internet voting in the 2009 legislative session, however the bills eventually died in the House because of the significant financial impact the program would have on counties and individual taxpayers that was not reflected in the original fiscal note.
 
In addition to the internet voting bills, House Bill 2483 and its companion Senate Bill 6238, seek to put into place a voting system allowing for ballots to be sent and returned via electronic transmission (fax and email). These bills were introduced allegedly to comply with the Military and Overseas Voters Empowerment Act (MOVE), which only requires that blank ballots be made available by fax or email and does not necessitate ballots be returned via electronic transmission. MOVE was established to provide voters with an efficient means to receive blank ballots and sidestep delays created by mailing a ballot via postal mail. By emailing or faxing blank ballots, military and overseas voters are able to receive voting materials in a significantly expedited manner. This is a process already employed in Washington State to positive effect; the Secretary of State’s office recently reported that Washington State has one of the highest military voter participation rates – over 76%, with 99% of the ballots being counted.  However, the return of ballots via email or fax could create serious problems for overseas and military voters and the integrity of elections due to the inherent insecure environment of the internet, the lack of voting privacy and the opportunity for voter coercion.
 
Voter Action and other major election integrity organizations have joined leading computer scientists in expressing deep concern about the threat posed to our democracy by the introduction of a voting system that creates serious election and voter vulnerabilities. We believe that there are safer and more secure ways to address the issues facing military and overseas voting without undermining the integrity of the very votes that we are hoping to protect.
 
The Washington State House of Representatives unanimously passed House Bill 2483 on January 22, 2010. The companion Senate Bill 6238 was given a public hearing on January 18, 2010 and passed out committee on February 2, 2010. SB 6238 is currently awaiting a reading on the Senate floor.
 
Alabama
HB 30 was pre-filed on 9/23/09 by Representative James Martin, who sponsored HB 377, also an internet voting pilot program bill, in the previous session. HB 30 will be introduced on January 10, 2010 and move forward pending committee action.
 
Read the full text of HB 30, here.
 
Massachusetts
House Bill H4310 was introduced on November 4, 2009 by Representative Charles Murphy. The bill passed the House on November 4, 2009 and passed the Senate on November 5, 2009.
 
Currently, the bill is set to be signed into law by the governor of Massachusetts. Voter Action and other coalition organizations have issued a statement, urging Governor Patrick to return the bill to court in order to remove the language threatening the privacy and security of military voters by allowing for ballots to be returned via facsimile or email.
 
Read the full text of H4310, here.
 
Read the Statement Urging Governor Patrick to Protect Military Votes, here.
 
To view the archive of previous internet voting legislation from the 2009 legislative session, Click Here. 
 
Resources and Reports

 In January 2009 the Pew Center on the States issued a report on overseas and military voters stating that electronic return of ballots created a risk of violating the privacy and security of those ballots. View the report, Here.
 
The security of Internet and email and fax voting systems have been deemed insufficient by a 2004 study and subsequent report by the Secure Electronic Registration and Voting Experiment (SERVE)  resulting in the closure of an internet voting pilot program implemented by the Pentagon.  View the report, Here.
 
Continue to check Voter Action's website for regular updates on internet voting legislation!