As part of an Internet voting pilot project run by the Department of Defense, absentee voters from South Carolina, Florida, Texas and Utah will be allowed to submit their ballots over the web. By the 2004 presidential election, however, they won't be alone. More than a half-dozen states are leading the push to get citizens voting online. Officials in New York, Minnesota, Ohio, New Mexico, and Alaska are looking into online voting. In Iowa and Washington, VoteHere.net, a provider of Internet voting systems, has run several mock Internet elections.
Some states are more advanced than others.
In Florida, an Internet voting system standard has been adopted by the state legislature, and officials are approaching voting software developers to get them certified to run elections. In California, an Internet voting task force commissioned by Secretary of State Bill Jones has recommended that the state begin integrating online voting into the election process. Proponents say Internet voting will increase voter participation by making the election process more convenient and accessible. Casting a ballot on any networked computer instead of having to travel to a polling place would be especially useful for the elderly, disabled, and those too busy to leave their offices. Yet the greatest potential for increased voter turnout lies with younger voters.