With a CNN camera crew filming from atop her roommate's bed, Mills clicks on Al Gore - and makes history. Move on, Amazon. Out of the way, eBay. Their 15 minutes of fame comes courtesy of the Arizona Democratic Party, which is staging the USA 's first binding political election conducted over the Internet. Voting ends Saturday, when old-fashioned polling places will offer both paper ballots and computers.
Proponents call it the future of democracy.
They say it will raise turnout, reduce recounts, empower minorities, save time and cut costs. Besides, says party chairman Mark Fleisher, it's fun. And the civics lesson that was the polling place of yesteryear will become an anachronism. Those issues will be explored in the future as states inch their way toward government-sanctioned online elections. If the Internet becomes the polling place of the future, what's most important is who stands to benefit.