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Etopia Media Voting News #11:

A fresh can of worms is opened as Republican vote-by-fax plans encounter criticism and litigation

Sacramento, California
October 15, 2004

By Marc Strassman
Reporter
Etopia Media Voting News
Etopia Media Political News Networks
Etopia Media News Networks

The Pentagon

Correction and Introduction

A recent article on the Etopia Media Voting News web site, entitled "State of Missouri and Department of Defense institute non-secret Internet voting system in time for November, 2004, elections", erred in claiming that the Pentagon plan to let military personnel overseas in combat zones vote remotely involved the use of the Internet.

In fact, participants in this plan will be allowed to use the Department of Defense's proprietary "Electronic Transmission System" to send scanned and PDFed copies of their paper ballots to a Pentagon center staffed by employees of the mysterious Omega Corporation, which will, in turn, fax copies of these ballots to the local election officials appropriate for each voter.

The article correctly pointed out that voters using this system will need to give up their right to a secret ballot in order to use it.

Not only them. Less than two weeks before the election, an entirely new issue has arisen to complicate further the collection and tabulation of votes in what could be the closest presidential election in U.S. history: the secrecy of vote-by-fax ballots.

With the demise in January, 2004, of the Pentagon's $20 million SERVE remote Internet voting system (more about SERVE), DoD announced revamped and intensified plans to assure overseas military voters that they'd receive their absentee ballots in plenty of time to fill them out and that DoD would return the completed ballots to local election officials in plenty of time to see that they were properly counted.

Apparently, all these declared plans have not been sufficient to solve the problem. By late September, 2004, new plans had emerged under which three states would allow their registered voters to submit their completed ballots via the Pentagon's own e-mail system. You can read about this by clicking here.

It was this system that Etopia Media Voting News reported on in "State of Missouri and Department of Defense institute non-secret Internet voting system in time for November, 2004, elections".

California Joins the Non-secret Voting-by-Fax Club

Meanwhile, back at American democracy's western edge, a California Assemblywoman named Patricia Bates proposed a bill in the California Legislature, AB 2941, to enable registered California voters serving in the military or otherwise overseas to send in their absentee ballots by fax.

California Assemblywoman Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel), 73rd Assembly District

Perhaps contradictorily, AB2941 includes both a waiver of secrecy by voters and instructions to election officials to preserve the secrecy of the voters' ballots, as follows:

OATH OF VOTER

I, ______________________, acknowledge that by returning my voted ballot by facsimile transmission I have waived my right to have my ballot kept secret. Nevertheless, I understand that, as with any absent voter, my signature, whether on this oath of voter form or my identification envelope, will be permanently separated from my voted ballot to maintain its secrecy at the outset of the tabulation process and thereafter.

(2) Notwithstanding the voter's waiver of the right to a secret ballot, each elections official shall adopt appropriate procedures to protect the secrecy of absentee ballots returned by facsimile transmission.

Notwithstanding this at least apparent contradiction, AB 2941 was passed (78-0, with an urgency clause attached) by the California Assembly on August 24, 2004. It was "enrolled" and sent to Governor Schwarzenegger for his approval or veto on August 31st. Governor Schwarzenegger approved AB 2941 on September 27th and the new law was "chaptered" by Secretary of State Kevin Shelley that same day.

The next day, the bill's author, Assemblywoman Bates, issued a press release entitled "Bates’ Bill To Aid Overseas Voters Signed By Governor," in which she is quoted as saying:

"I am pleased the Governor has joined me in protecting the rights of voters. Thanks to the tremendous support for AB 2941, our troops overseas will be able to cast their vote and have it counted in this November’s election."

It didn't take long for the legal battle to excise the secrecy waiver to start, or much longer for the California Supreme Court to rule that while it would consider doing this, it would not do so before the November 2, 2004, election.

The suit asking the court to eliminate the secrecy waiver was argued by Scott Rafferty, a lawyer working for the Kerry-Edwards 2004 campaign, on behalf of three overseas voters. "Privacy is a constitutional requirement that the Legislature can't change," he said.

Republicans Take the Lead on Vote-by-Fax

The California Senate has a membership of 25 Democrats and 15 Republicans, and the California Assembly is made up of 48 Democrats and 32 Republicans. Although AB 2941 passed its final vote in the California Assembly unanimously, both of the bill's Senate co-authors are Republicans, and its principal author, Assemblymember Bates, and all eight of its Assembly co-authors are also Republicans.

Appearing on the October 15, 2004, episode of "The McLaughlin Group", Tony Blankley, formerly press secretary to Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and now a columnist for The Washington Times, said:

"MR. BLANKLEY: It's one to one. But keep in mind, the military vote is going to break 70-30 for Bush, and none of them are being polled in any of these polls."

Missouri Secretary of State Matt Blunt, who signed his state up for the DoD program that allows overseas military voters to scan, e-mail, and fax in their ballots, is also the Republican nominee for Governor.

Matt Blunt, Secretary of State of Missouri

Gayle McKeachnie, who as Lt. Governor of Utah, is responsible for that state's use of the Pentagon system for remote military voting, is also a Republican.

Gayle McKeachnie, Lt. Governor of Utah

Al Jaeger, Secretary of State and Chief Elections Officer of North Dakota, the third state using the scan-email-fax Omega Corporation/Pentagon voting system, is likewise a member of the Republican Party.

Al Jaeger, Secretary of State of North Dakota

Omega Corporation, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, not far from the Pentagon itself, has, according to United Press International:

"come under criticism by the New York Times and other media outlets for its refusal to provide the names and political affiliations of the people that will be handling the ballots. The president of the company, Patricia A. Williams, is publicly supporting President George W. Bush in his re-election bid and has donated $6,600 to his cause, according to the New York Times and federal campaign finance records."

Meanwhile, the Pentagon decided "to post a federal write-in ballot on its Web site for civilian and military voters to use overseas if their regular ballots fail to arrive in time."

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