Is e-voting the way to move forward?

by Joey Engelberg
Daily Trojan

(U-WIRE) LOS ANGELES - To date, the Internet has been the cookie-dough of modern times: mix it with anything and you've got success. The next American institution politicians wish to fuse with the Internet is the voting booth. Indeed, talk of Internet voting has turned into action in some states, which are planning to hold coming elections on the web.

However, before the e-vote is embraced and hung upon the walls on Internet achievement, both its obstacles and its consequences must be realized.

Last week, Secretary of State Bill Jones released a 100-page study compiled by his Internet voting task force which analyzed the security issues surrounding the e-vote. While Jones conceded Internet voting may eventually be feasible, he concluded, "the threat of computer virus and other technological attacks on personal computers make Internet voting from the home or office an unsecure and unwise practice at this time."

Jones went on to describe his gradual, four-step plan to eliminate possible frauds and ensure the security of Internet ballots.

While it appears Internet voting may be a few bug fixes away, the significance of any security threat cannot be understated. Indeed, the integrity of voting the via the Internet must greatly surpass any and all transaction integrity found in e-commerce. This truth was echoed by Democrat Governor Gray Davis (CA) and Republican Governor George Pataki (NY) whose security concerns prompted them to contribute a joint op-ed piece in last Tuesday's San Diego Union-Tribune. Davis and Pataki were eager to point out the past dangers of online transactions: "Fresh in our minds are the reports of computer hackers who broke in to a phone company's computer system and stole more than 60,000 member passwords." Davis and Pataki went on to describe the standard of security the e-vote must obtain.

"It (Internet voting) must guarantee to a high degree of certainty that hackers could not break in to block votes, change votes or compromise the sanctity of the secret ballot."

Internet security, however, is not the sole chink in the e-vote armor. Last Friday, a non-partisan public interest organization, the Voter Integrity Project, filed a lawsuit against the Arizona

Democratic Party in Federal court. The suit, which attempts to bar the Arizona Democratic Party from holding its March Primaries online, argues Internet voting is inherently discriminatory.

VIP contends holding even the primaries online would unfairly discriminate against groups who disproportionately have less access to the web and thereby violating the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

In a press release last Saturday, VIP cited a Department of Commerce report which concluded only 19% of African-Americans and 16% of Hispanics have access to the Internet, compared with 38% of whites.

While those who have no web access would certainly be able to cast their ballots at local polls, the fact remains that some groups would hold an access advantage over others. Such an advantage seems contrary to the American conception of the voting booth as the ultimate democracy.