Pentagon scraps Net voting plan

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://news.com.com/2100-1029_3-5154321.html

By Robert Lemos 
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
February 5, 2004

The U.S. Department of Defense on Thursday backed off plans for a 
large-scale test of a voting system designed to let Americans who are 
overseas cast ballots in the coming election over the Internet. 

The Pentagon will scrap the Secure Electronic Registration and Voting 
Experiment (SERVE) until the current system can guarantee the security 
of the voting process or a new system is designed, a Defense 
Department spokesperson said. 

"The action was taken in view of the inability to ensure the 
legitimacy of the votes cast," the spokesperson said. 

The decision follows a January report by four experts--three computer 
science professors and a former IBM researcher--that gave failing 
marks to Internet voting. The report argues that creating an e-voting 
system that guarantees each person votes once and protects the voter's 
identity is impossible with the current state of the Internet. 

The system would have allowed absentee military voters from 50 
counties in seven states the ability to place their votes. The 
inauguration was to have been in South Carolina's presidential primary 
on Tuesday. The Defense Department is searching for a program that can 
eventually handle the nearly 6 million American military personnel and 
civilians abroad. 

The cancellation of the system is the latest set back for Internet and 
electronic voting amid ongoing concerns over the security and 
reporting features of e-voting machines. 

The criticism has mounted to the point that the makers of e-voting 
machines have formed a lobbying group to take their case to 
Washington, D.C.

The Defense Department hasn't indicated what the next step is for 
Internet voting, except that the United States is still interested. 

"Efforts will continue to look into all technical capabilities to cast 
votes over the Internet," the spokesperson said. 



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