| Written by Associated Press, on 05-01-2008 19:16 |
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Page 2 of 3 In most states that allow e-mail balloting, the voter must also follow up by mailing in the ballot. And states that permit e-mail balloting warn that it is not a secure way to transmit personal information. States that will send a blank ballot by e-mail are: Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. However, in some states, such as Illinois, only certain voting districts participate in the e-mail balloting. States where voters can return completed ballots by e-mail are: Colorado, Indiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina and Washington. In some communities only members of the military may use e-mail balloting. In others all registered voters may do so. And officials noted that options may change as the year goes on, so voters should check with local districts and Web sites for updates. As an example, Missouri allowed some e-mail voting in the past, and may again. Polli Brunelli, director of the Federal Voter Assistance Program, said that while voting by mail can work well, “it doesn’t always get through.” Ballot delivery, she said, is slowed by weather conditions or delays in printing or getting final approvals at the local level. “The nice thing about the e-balloting process is that it’s portable,” she said, noting that troops often move around and at times have more reliable access to e-mail than regular mail. “I think we’re building confidence in that process. It’s a slow thing, but I think we’re moving right along.” Of the roughly 1.3 million active duty military eligible to vote, about 500,000 are deployed overseas or permanently assigned there. Men and women in uniform make up an increasingly active voting block. Brunelli said that 73 percent of all military members voted in 2004, compared with 57 percent in 2000. A less-scientific report from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission suggested there were significant problems for military members and others who tried to vote from overseas. According to the commission’s survey, nearly 1 million overseas voters—including service members, federal employees and other citizens - requested absentee ballots for the 2006 local, state and congressional elections. Of those, the survey said, more than two-thirds were never counted, largely because the ballots were returned to the local election officials as undeliverable. The survey released late last year indicated that more than half of the ballots from the military overseas voters were not counted. The commission noted, however, that response rates to the survey varied across the country, as did the way localities collected and reported their voting statistics.
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