On April 23, the California Assembly Elections Committee passed AB 19 by a vote of 4-3. It allows a county to conduct an Internet Voting Pilot Project for a local election of the county’s choosing. The hearing attracted a great many opponents from prominent organizations and individuals, but very few proponents. The testimony against the bill was so overwhelming, it was a surprise when it passed. Some of the opponents started chanting “Shame! Shame!” once the vote was announced.
Bad bill – there are still a very many people out there who, for one reason or another, do not have internet – or even computers. Telling them to co to the library or somewhere to vote would just be another way of discouraging their vote. Then, there is the worry that somehow the government or somebody could use “cookies” or something to determine how the people voted. How would they insure that those who voted via internet were really eligible to vote. Using internet maybe even the 5th Division of the Chinese Army, or the British Parliament, or anybody could vote. Then you have a situation of “super registration” of passwords of some sort to restrict access to the internet ballot. There are just too many problems right now to seriously consider this bill. “Shame” was the right word!
How many ENEMY hackers (domestic and foreign) would LOVE to subvert Democracy and elections in the U.S.A. ???
The real shame here is that groups like Common Cause are using junk science to scare folks about supposed Internet voting insecurity. Fortunately, California Legislators aren’t as gullible as the people who believe Common Cause, Verified Voting, etc See http://internetvotingforall.blogspot.com/2012/08/common-cause-caught-using-junk-science.html
Three cheers for Representative government (rather than direct democracy, which the people aren’t ready for)
William J. Kelleher, Ph.D.
Email: Internetvoting@gmail.com
Blog: http://tinyurl.com/IV4All
Twitter: wjkno1