New York Times_Restoring Confidence in the Balloting Process (November 12)

12.11.2007

…..  Here’s something else to consider: While the United States may be rocketing into reverse toward paper, the little Baltic country of Estonia earlier this year held the world’s first national election to be conducted over the Internet. It appears to have gone pretty well , though it requires voters to use a national ID card.

Now, many computer experts in the United States are adamantly opposed to Internet voting, saying it is highly insecure. The Defense Department was experimenting with Internet voting for overseas military personnel a few years ago then dropped the idea as too problematic.

This raises the question: When you have a little Baltic nation trying to harness technology for the benefit of its citizens, why is the United States retreating in the other direction?

Well, Caucus readers, you supplied part of the answer in the question where you discussed your degree of confidence in your voting method. The confidence level seems to be about, oh, zero. Good experiences were few and far between. While many readers showed particular hostility toward electronic voting, I was struck by the bad experiences you had across the board.  …

Full text: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/12/us/politics/13web-seelye.html