New Jersey lets Sandy victims vote via e-mail
07:32:44 AM EST
Critics argue that Internet-based voting systems are vulnerable to hacking and other security risks.
New Jersey residents displaced by Superstorm Sandy
will be allowed to vote in Tuesday's elections via e-mail or fax, the
first time civilians in the state have been allowed to vote remotely.
Despite some security concerns, the state announced
the change to make it easier for voters who may have been forced by
flooding, power outages or other storm damage to temporarily leave their
communities. The directive also is intended
to help emergency workers who are busy with disaster-relief efforts
away from home.
Under the New Jersey directive, displaced storm
victims qualify as "overseas voters," meaning they are eligible to vote
remotely. To vote electronically, residents first must submit a ballot
application by e-mail or fax to their county
clerk. Once the application is approved, the clerk will e-mail or fax a
ballot to the voter, who must send it back no later than Tuesday at 8
p.m. ET.
Remote electronic voting is already available to
members of the military and U.S. citizens living overseas, but this
marks the first time that civilian residents in New Jersey have been
permitted to vote via e-mail.
"This has been an extraordinary storm that has
created unthinkable destruction across our state, and we know many
people have questions about how and where to cast their vote in
Tuesday's election," said Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno in a statement.
"To help alleviate pressure on polling places, we encourage voters to
either use electronic voting or the extended hours at county offices to
cast their vote."
How secure is your electronic vote?
In recent years, as Americans have grown used to
banking, shopping and socializing online, many have wondered why they
can't vote online as well. Canada, Sweden, Latvia and Switzerland all
have experimented with Internet voting, and Estonia
has allowed online voting for all of its citizens since 2007.
But many critics argue that Internet-based voting
systems are vulnerable to hacking. Critics also worry that electronic
voting leaves no paper trail, making it more difficult to determine
whether there has been tampering, or some other
irregularity, in a close election.
That may not be an issue in the presidential race
in New Jersey, where President Barack Obama has maintained a comfortable
lead over GOP challenger Gov. Mitt Romney in most polls.
"Does e-mail voting make sense for New Jersey
during this emergency? It's hard to say one way or the other without a
lot more information than has been released so far about how the system
will work and how it will be secured," wrote computer-security
expert Matt Blaze in a blog post.
"The security implications of voting by e-mail
are, under normal conditions, more than sufficient to make any computer
security specialist recoil in horror," he added. "E-mail, of course,
is not at all authenticated, reliable, or
confidential, and that by itself opens the door to new forms of
election mischief that would be far more difficult in a traditional
in-person polling station or with paper absentee ballots."
In their announcement of the new directive, New
Jersey officials did not explain how they will authenticate e-mails or
faxes from voters. A call to Guadagno's office seeking more details was
not immediately returned.
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