[EL] Magleby on Voters’ Preferred Methods of Voting

Sun Dec 7 10:56:29 PST 2014

I appreciate the clarification.  By "Internet voting," I meant the type
that Mike refers to as "online voting," which is what I presume voters mean
when they say they would prefer to vote through the Internet.

On Sun, Dec 7, 2014 at 11:58 AM, Michael McDonald <
dr.michael.p.mcdonald at gmail.com> wrote:

> On David Magleby’s prediction internet voting is only a matter of time,
> Dan writes: “I don’t share his prediction on Internet voting — at least
> not any time soon… given the formidable security concerns
> <http://www.technologyreview.com/news/506741/why-you-cant-vote-online/>.”
>
>
>
> David and Dan are both wrong. Electronic voting is already happening for
> non-UOCAVA voters. Alaska now allows electronic voting for all regular mail
> ballot voters (New Jersey did so as well in 2012 in an emergency response
> to Hurricane Sandy).
>
>
>
> The typical procedures for casting electronic ballots are as follows:
>
>
>
> 1. The voter requests an electronic ballot from election officials.
>
> 2. Election officials deliver the ballot electronically (email or login
> provided to a website).
>
> 3. Voters print ballot, fill it out, and sign it.
>
> 4. Voters scan ballot and returned scanned image via e-mail to election
> officials (Maine has allowed cell-phone pictures).
>
> 5. Election officials perform signature verification against the signature
> on the scanned image.
>
>
>
> This method is NOT the same as online voting, which is the method
> described in the link Dan provided. Online voting would have voters log
> into a website and cast their ballot entirely within that website.
>
>
>
> While it is feasible to intercept and manipulate scanned images, given the
> large variation in ballots across the U.S. and variation in the quality of
> scanned images, automated image manipulation would likely lead to
> discrepancies that would be detected. So, manipulation to escape detection
> would most likely have to occur on a case-by-case basis using a photo
> editor. This would lead to delays that may be detected during the
> notification procedure that ballots have been received by election
> officials.
>
>
>
> This election saw further innovations:
>
>
>
> States have opted to allow electronic ballot return, however, federal
> requires UOCAVA ballots to be received by fax. A system was constructed to
> allow UOCAVA voters to electronically send ballots to a system that relayed
> their ballots via fax to local election officials in states that do not
> accept electronic ballots.
>
>
>
> In Okaloosa, Florida military voters cast ballots via online voting
> through a trial method invented by Juan Gilbert here at UF. Military voters
> established a webcam session with an election official. They filled out
> their ballot through the website. The election official printed the ballot,
> and without looking at the ballot, held the ballot to the webcam where the
> voter verified the accuracy of the ballot. The election official then
> placed the ballot into the ballot box. There is no known technology that
> can intercept and manipulate real-time video without detection, and for the
> foreseeable future such technology will not exist given current computing
> speeds.
>
>
>
> ============
>
> Dr. Michael P. McDonald
>
> Associate Professor
>
> University of Florida
>
> Department of Political Science
>
> 234 Anderson Hall
>
> P.O. Box 117325
>
> Gainesville, FL 32611
>
>
>
> phone:   352-273-2371 (office)
>
> e-mail:  dr.michael.p.mcdonald at gmail.com
>
> web:     www.ElectProject.org <http://www.electproject.org/>
>
> twitter: @ElectProject
>
>
>
> *From:* law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:
> law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] *On Behalf Of *Daniel
> Tokaji
> *Sent:* Sunday, December 07, 2014 10:15 AM
> *To:* law-election at UCI.edu
> *Subject:* [EL] ELB News and Commentary 12/6/14 & 12/7/14
>
>
>
>
> “Roundup: Citizens United and Public Corruption”
> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68881>
>
> Posted on December 7, 2014 7:06 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68881>
> by *Dan Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>
>
> Noah Rosenblum’s post
> <http://www.yalelawjournal.org/forum/roundup-citizens-united-and-public-corruption>
> in Yale Law Journal Forum summarizes recent scholarship on public
> corruption and campaign finance.
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D68881&title=%E2%80%9CRoundup%3A%20Citizens%20United%20and%20Public%20Corruption%E2%80%9D&description=>
>
> Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
> More Efforts to Change How States Allocate Their Electoral Votes?
> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68879>
>
> Posted on December 7, 2014 7:00 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68879>
> by *Dan Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>
>
> Paul Rosenberg has this piece in Salon
> <http://www.salon.com/2014/12/06/now_theyre_trying_to_steal_2016_the_demented_gop_schemes_to_rewire_the_electoral_college_and_elect_a_tea_party_president/> on the
> possibility that Republicans will try to assign electoral votes
> proportionally or by congressional district in states where they control
> the legislature but are likely to vote Democratic in presidential elections.
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D68879&title=More%20Efforts%20to%20Change%20How%20States%20Allocate%20Their%20Electoral%20Votes%3F&description=>
>
> Posted in electoral college <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44>
> “Democrats Win PACs, Lose Money War” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68877>
>
> Posted on December 7, 2014 6:46 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68877>
> by *Dan Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>
>
> Politico reports
> <http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/democrats-gop-super-pacs-fundraising-113362.html?hp=r1_3> that Democrats
> “far outpaced Republicans in the fundraising by super PACs, which are
> required to report their contributors’ identities” but that “voluntary
> disclosures by other outfits suggest Republicans more than made up for the
> disparity through their dominance of secretive non-profit groups that do
> not disclose their <http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/60731.html>
> donors <http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/60731.html>.”
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D68877&title=%E2%80%9CDemocrats%20Win%20PACs%2C%20Lose%20Money%20War%E2%80%9D&description=>
>
> Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
> More on Ohio Redistricting Reform Proposal
> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68873>
>
> Posted on December 7, 2014 6:14 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68873>
> by *Dan Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>
>
> This story
> <http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/12/07/proposed-revision-of-redistricting-is-progress-expert-says.html>
> in the Columbus Dispatch includes my thoughts on the proposal that the
> state house approved Thursday <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68822> on a
> bipartisan vote. It’s unclear what the state senate will do.
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D68873&title=More%20on%20Ohio%20Redistricting%20Reform%20Proposal&description=>
>
> Posted in redistricting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>
> Federal District Court Invalidates Arizona Disclosure Law
> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68869>
>
> Posted on December 7, 2014 6:01 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68869>
> by *Dan Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>
>
> Judge James Teilborg’s ruling found the state’s registration requirement
> for political committees “vague, overbroad, and consequently
> unconstitutional in violation of the First Amendment,” according to this
> report
> <http://tucson.com/news/local/federal-judge-strikes-down-campaign-finance-law/article_74fe2156-9ce9-587f-b0d5-469e2f9abe60.html>
> .
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D68869&title=Federal%20District%20Court%20Invalidates%20Arizona%20Disclosure%20Law&description=>
>
> Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
> “Energy Firms in Secretive Alliance With Attorneys General”
> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68867>
>
> Posted on December 7, 2014 5:30 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68867>
> by *Dan Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>
>
> NYT has this report
> <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/07/us/politics/energy-firms-in-secretive-alliance-with-attorneys-general.html?_r=1> on
> what it calls an “unprecedented, secretive alliance that … Republican
> attorneys general have formed with some of the nation’s top energy
> producers to push back against the Obama regulatory agenda,”  finding that
> “[a]ttorneys general in at least a dozen states are working with energy
> companies and other corporate interests, which in turn are providing them
> with record amounts of money for their political campaigns, including at
> least $16 million this year."
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D68867&title=%E2%80%9CEnergy%20Firms%20in%20Secretive%20Alliance%20With%20Attorneys%20General%E2%80%9D&description=>
>
> Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, lobbying
> <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>
> “Richard Alarcon to Serve 51-Day Sentence under House Arrest”
> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68863>
>
> Posted on December 6, 2014 12:11 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68863>
> by *Dan Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>
>
> LA Times reports
> <http://www.latimes.com/local/cityhall/la-me-alarcon-jail-20141206-story.html> on how
> the former L.A. City Councilman will serve his sentence for living outside
> the district he represented. Dan Lowestein comments:  “It’s hard for me to
> think that the state of California will be better governed by these cases
> being brought forward.”
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D68863&title=%E2%80%9CRichard%20Alarcon%20to%20Serve%2051-Day%20Sentence%20under%20House%20Arrest%E2%80%9D&description=>
>
> Posted in residency <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=38>
> Colorado Secretary of State Accuses Boulder Clerk of Violating Election
> Laws <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68860>
>
> Posted on December 6, 2014 6:01 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68860>
> by *Dan Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>
>
> Colorado’s Republican Secretary of State Scott Gessler has issued a report
> <http://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/docs/2014BoulderReport.pdf> finding
> “serious and systemic violations of Colorado state law” by Boulder’s
> Democratic County Clerk Hillary Hall during the 2014 election.  The
> allegations include “systematically discriminat[ing] against Republican
> election judges, by excluding people nominated by the Republican Party, and
> even appointing people not registered to vote.”  The Secretary of State
> nevertheless accepted Boulder’s election returns
> <http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_27072646/secretary-state-accepts-part-boulder-county-voting-results>
> for state and federal office.  Hall denies the accusations
> <http://www.dailycamera.com/news/ci_27082559/boulder-county-clerk-hall-i-followed-law-election>, and
> Gessler says he’s not pursuing a criminal investigation.
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D68860&title=Colorado%20Secretary%20of%20State%20Accuses%20Boulder%20Clerk%20of%20Violating%20Election%20Laws&description=>
>
> Posted in chicanery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, election
> administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>
> Magleby on Voters’ Preferred Methods of Voting
> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68857>
>
> Posted on December 6, 2014 5:22 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68857>
> by *Dan Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>
>
> David Magleby has this piece
> <http://www.forbes.com/sites/datafreaks/2014/12/04/the-death-of-voting-booths-america-is-changing-the-way-we-vote/> on
> Forbes’ Data Freaks, reporting on a survey of Utah voters. A snippet:
>
> We found that 21 percent of the Utah voting population prefers to vote by
> mail and nearly 20 percent prefer to vote by Internet. Of voters under age
> 50, one-in-four would prefer to vote by Internet. Interestingly, voters
> over 65 were most likely to prefer mail-in ballots. These voter attitudes,
> coupled with no assurance of federal funds to update voting equipment, make
> in-person voting seem like an endangered species and a shift to Internet
> voting seem like an inevitable reality.
>
> Worth reading, but I don’t share his prediction on Internet voting — at
> least not any time soon — given the formidable security concerns
> <http://www.technologyreview.com/news/506741/why-you-cant-vote-online/>.
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D68857&title=Magleby%20on%20Voters%E2%80%99%20%20Preferred%20Methods%20of%20Voting&description=>
>
> Posted in absentee ballots <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53>, internet
> voting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=49>
> “The Ruth Bader Ginsburg Taboo” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68855>
>
> Posted on December 6, 2014 5:09 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68855>
> by *Dan Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>
>
> Politico
> <http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/ruth-bader-ginsburg-113357.html?hp=t4_r>
> on Justice Ginsburg’s recent health issues and the possibility no one wants
> to discuss.
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D68855&title=%E2%80%9CThe%20Ruth%20Bader%20Ginsburg%20Taboo%E2%80%9D&description=>
>
> Posted in Supreme Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
> “The 2014 Elections That Ended in a Tie”
> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68852>
>
> Posted on December 6, 2014 5:02 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68852>
> by *Dan Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>
>
> 538 reports
> <http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/the-2014-elections-that-ended-in-a-tie/>on
> elections resolved by coin flips, lot-drawing, and other games of chance.
> See Mike Pitts
> <http://mckinneylaw.iu.edu/instructors/pitts/connecticut_final.pdf>.
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D68852&title=%E2%80%9CThe%202014%20Elections%20That%20Ended%20in%20a%20Tie%E2%80%9D&description=>
>
> Posted in recounts <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=50>
> “Thousands of Americans use same-day registration this year”
> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68849>
>
> Posted on December 5, 2014 12:06 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68849>
> by *Dan Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>
>
> Electionline Weekly has this story
> <http://www.electionline.org/index.php/electionline-weekly>.
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D68849&title=%E2%80%9CThousands%20of%20Americans%20use%20same-day%20registration%20this%20year%E2%80%9D&description=>
>
> Posted in voter registration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=37>
> “Libertarians Displace Democrats on Alaska Campaign Finance Commission”
> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68847>
>
> Posted on December 5, 2014 11:58 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68847>
> by *Dan Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>
>
> Ballot Access News has this post
> <http://www.ballot-access.org/2014/12/libertarians-displace-democrats-on-alaska-campaign-finance-commission/>
> on a consequence of Democrats having no gubernatorial nominee on the
> ballot.
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D68847&title=%E2%80%9CLibertarians%20Displace%20Democrats%20on%20Alaska%20Campaign%20Finance%20Commission%E2%80%9D&description=>
>
> Posted in third parties <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=47>
> Voting Stories from Kansas and Ohio <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68843>
>
> Posted on December 5, 2014 11:50 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68843>
> by *Dan Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>
>
> The Brennan Center has short pieces on how Kansas’ ID and citizenship
> rules <http://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/voting-2014-stories-kansas>
> and Ohio’s registration and early voting cuts
> <http://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/voting-2014-stories-ohio> affected
> individual voters, part of its series Voting 2014: Stories from the States
> <http://www.brennancenter.org/state-voting-2014-states>.
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D68843&title=Voting%20Stories%20from%20Kansas%20and%20Ohio&description=>
>
> Posted in absentee ballots <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53>, voter id
> <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9>, voter registration
> <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=37>
>
> --
>
> Daniel Tokaji
> Charles W. Ebersold & Florence Whitcomb Ebersold Professor of
> Constitutional Law
> The Ohio State University | Moritz College of Law
> 614.292.6566 | @Title52law <https://twitter.com/Title52law>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Law-election mailing list
> Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
> http://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election
>

-- 
Daniel Tokaji
Charles W. Ebersold & Florence Whitcomb Ebersold Professor of
Constitutional Law
The Ohio State University | Moritz College of Law
614.292.6566 | @Title52law <https://twitter.com/Title52law>
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