[EL] When is a finger not a pen? Article discussing on-line digital signatures.

[bzall at aol.com]

Hasn't appeared in the blog, so I'll ask about this article, http://www.philanthropydaily.com/nonprofits-behaving-badly/, about this report: http://www.nccivitas.org/2013/elections-bureaucrats-ran-amok/


Excerpt: 



In a blatantly partisan move, the staff of the North Carolina State Board of Elections (SBE) successfully subverted state law to facilitate online voter registration in North Carolina by the 2012 Barack Obama campaign. In doing so they coordinated with partisans behind closed doors, lied about the NC Attorney General’s Office concurring with the SBE staff on the issue, and dodged oversight by their own board and the legislature. The end result was to add thousands of people to the North Carolina voter rolls illegally.
The SBE staff’s audacity is so breath-taking that it’s hard to believe, so let us emphasize:  The Civitas Institute has documented how SBE bureaucrats conspired with a private company, working for the Obama campaign[i], to facilitate a form of online voter registration for the 2012 General Election – in violation of state law. It’s a classic example of how bureaucrats ignore the democratic process and hijack an agency for partisan purposes.



Leaving aside the criticism of Jane Mayer (which some people argue is richly-deserved), I'm curious if there's another take on this actual voter registration procedure, or if it's as portrayed, particularly on the question of on-line signatures translated into a mailed document. 


And the finger-based system does lend another meaning to the discussion over "digital democracy." 


Barnaby Zall 
Of Counsel 
Weinberg, Jacobs & Tolani, LLP 
10411 Motor City Drive, Suite 500
Bethesda, MD 20817
301-231-6943 (direct dial) 
bzall at aol.com 
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