7 ms·

From what I can tell about this, it seems to work like: 1.) Overseas / abroad resident has to apply for the email ballot. This should go through some sort of h

From what I can tell about this, it seems to work like: 1.) Overseas / abroad resident has to apply for the email ballot. This should go through some sort of human approval process, making sure that the names for those particular voters voting in this method are recorded - to compare against in-person voting locations and ensure no double-voting. Hopefully should any double+ voting occur, this ballot will be invalidated. 2.) They are either faxed or sent, via email, an electronic PDF form based ballot. These PDF forms are true forms in that they allow for the voter to type in entries and save the new version (complete with entered information). 3.) The faxed form would be faxed back, with entries. The PDF version would be sent back, with entries, via email. Unless Adobe has (once again) extended the PDF format to include encryption of PDF form entries, then yes, the emailed returned ballot will expose the voter's preferences via plaintext transmission. The only way they'd be able to avoid that would be to have, for instance, an https accessible website that allows for PDF ballot upload. Somehow I doubt this is what they're doing.

arrrg 14y ago
That sounds problematic, but it’s probably also important to note that absentee ballots always have prioritized the ability to vote over secrecy and being tamper proof. When it comes to absentee ballots I think that’s acceptable as long as they do not become the default of common way to vote. Whether that, however, should also apply to electronic means of voting is questionable. Everyone understands papers and pencils. Computers are too much of a black box for me to ever feel comfortable with voting mediated by them.
mjn 14y ago
That doesn't sound much less secure than how I voted, as an expat. I did the following: 1) Applied for a ballot by email, using a scanned Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) sent to the county clerk of the county I last resided in. 2) A ballot was sent to me by post. This is just a big piece of paper with some stuff printed on it. 3) I check the boxes I want to vote for. 4) I mail back my ballot. Overall it doesn't seem much harder to spoof the existing process, since there's no verification of who sent back the ballot. The only security is that there might be various codes (or bar-codes) on that paper ballot which you'd have to know something about to fake.
- weaksauce 14y ago
  Computers change the scale of things. with that you would have to print out many forms on paper that was not normal copy paper with identifying barcodes on it and then mail each ballot back after signing the form and marking each form individually. With an electronic version a lot of that hassle is taken out of the equation.

arrrg 14y ago

That sounds problematic, but it’s probably also important to note that absentee ballots always have prioritized the ability to vote over secrecy and being tamper proof. When it comes to absentee ballots I think that’s acceptable as long as they do not become the default of common way to vote. Whether that, however, should also apply to electronic means of voting is questionable. Everyone understands papers and pencils. Computers are too much of a black box for me to ever feel comfortable with voting mediated by them.

mjn 14y ago

That doesn't sound much less secure than how I voted, as an expat. I did the following: 1) Applied for a ballot by email, using a scanned Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) sent to the county clerk of the county I last resided in. 2) A ballot was sent to me by post. This is just a big piece of paper with some stuff printed on it. 3) I check the boxes I want to vote for. 4) I mail back my ballot. Overall it doesn't seem much harder to spoof the existing process, since there's no verification of who sent back the ballot. The only security is that there might be various codes (or bar-codes) on that paper ballot which you'd have to know something about to fake.

weaksauce 14y ago
Computers change the scale of things. with that you would have to print out many forms on paper that was not normal copy paper with identifying barcodes on it and then mail each ballot back after signing the form and marking each form individually. With an electronic version a lot of that hassle is taken out of the equation.