16
or by mail. To vote online, voters entered personalized codes from the ballot, along with place
and date of birth. More than 50,000 voted, about half over the Internet. Online voting was
open through the afternoon of the actual Primary day of August 3, 2004. At caucuses,
organizers had lists of people who already voted, and party officials went through ballots again
afterward to reject duplicates (Jesdanun 2004).
Missouri E-mail Voting (2004)
Starting in the 2004 election, Missouri allowed members of the military stationed
overseas to return absentee ballots via e-mail, raising concerns from Internet security experts
about fraud and ballot secrecy (Wiese 2004).
Missouri Secretary of State Matt Blunt
announced in late August 2004 that military members serving in combat areas overseas could
complete their absentee ballots, then scan and e-mail them to the Department of Defense,
which would forward the ballots via fax to the appropriate local election officials. Pentagon
officials said Missouri appeared to be the first state using the e-mail option, but other states
could also adopt it (Wiese 2004).
Texas House Bill 841 75 (R)
NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao cast his ballot for President of the United States via a
secure, encrypted e-mail connection, from 225 miles above the earth’s surface. U.S. astronauts,
most of whom live around Houston, are allowed to vote from space under Texas House Bill 841
75 (R), signed into law by then-Governor George W. Bush (Carreau 2004). The bill “requires
the secretary of state to prescribe procedures for voting from space on election day by secure
electronic mean.” To be eligible the bill states that you must be eligible to vote in Texas and
Convention