Robin Carnahan wants troops to get ballot by e-mail, fax
Robin Carnahan
Secretary of State Robin Carnahn is backing a bill that would allow Missouri troops serving oversees to receive their ballot by e-mail or fax.
Currently, troops can send back an absentee ballot by e-mail or fax, but they must receive it by conventional mail.
According to Carnahan’s office, which is responsible for administering elections in Missouri, about 470 ballots from military voters were rejected in November because they reached local election offices too late.
“Mail delays are the biggest obstacle active duty military personnel face when trying to cast their ballot,” Carnahan said in a statement.
The bill’s sponsor is Columbia Democratic State Rep. Stephen Webber, a freshman lawmaker who served two tours in Iraq before elected to the State House.
If approved, the bill would go into effect before 2010 — in time for soldiers to receive their ballot for Carnahan’s U.S. Senate bid.
There is an election? I thought there was a coronation. End political royalty in America, Now.
They can send back a completed ballot by email? That seems ripe for fraud. Email is neither reliable nor secure.
“If approved, the bill would go into effect before 2010 — in time for soldiers to receive their ballot for Carnahan’s U.S. Senate bid.”
Imagine that. I live by a couple rules. One, follow the money when trying to figure something out, and the other, determine when the election is if politicians start running their mouths. Simple yet effective
If this is some secure US military email system (which I would know 0 about) - then this might be OK.
If this the normal email that I use - then this is fraud waiting to happen.
Actually, neither sending nor receiving a ballot by email is any way secure. Now, there ARE secure ways of doing this … you can come up with an authentication scheme, such as a PIN #, and do it through a secure website. It works for banks, and with a competent IT staff, it could work for voting. Doing it through email is just plain dumb.
On the other hand, voting by E-mail might eliminate the need for your NCOs to “suggest” who to vote for as they did when I was in and filling out absentee ballots by hand in a room full of GI voters.
As a member of the US Navy, I welcome this. Voting by absentee ballot when you are in the military is very hard and confusing. As long as everything stays secure it is a very good idea.
Thou convenient it doesnt sound very secure. Why not carry them by bird or use the cups/string phone. There has to be a better way. I guess Robin is saying a lot of her votes are lost in the mail?
During the crazy 2000 presidential election, I recall a “soldier” (I use this term loosely in this case) who was stationed in England who admitted to a TV reporter that he received 2 ballots in the mail, so he voted twice.
All Americans need to show honor and vote once, but we need to make the system efficient and securely electronic to serve our military overseas. Congress votes on their pay and the president is their Commander-in-Chief; they need to have a voice.
There has to be some sort of happy medium here.
During the 8 years I was in the Navy, I requested an absentee ballot 4 times. Only once did I get the ballot in time to vote, and that was the year I was stationed in Great Lakes, IL.
It aggravated me to no end that I was floating around in the middle of nowhwere helping protect the republic, only to be denied my franchise to vote by either the post office or the county clerk.
I guess the guy in England voted for me…
This Military Voting Bill along with HJR9, which would require all Missourians to present a MO Driver’s License, State ID or a Passport in order to cast a ballot, will be heard in the House Elections committee Tuesday Morning at 8am in Hearing Room 5.
http://www. mofairelections.org
One disenfranchised Missourian is one too many.