League of Women Voters of Connecticut

The League of Women Voters of Connecticut believes in a representative government, based on the informed and active participation of its citizens. To that end, the League advocates that every citizen, including one who lives or serves in the military overseas, should be guaranteed the right to vote with confidence in the election process.
 

The League of Women Voters—through the consensus of its nationwide membership—determined that in order to ensure integrity and voter confidence in elections, the League of Women Voters supports the implementation of voting systems and procedures that are secure, accurate, recountable and accessible. Recently, LWV of the US added a requirement that voting systems be transparent—yielding the acronym SARAT as a guide for assessing voting systems.

The League of Women Voters of Connecticut wants....

 

To ensure that every individual, legally entitled to do so, has the opportunity to vote

• Reduce barriers to voting registration
• Comply with federal Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act by making voter registration applications available and returnable electronically

• Reduce barriers to voting by absentee ballot
• Reduce the burdens on the distribution of absentee ballots
• Reduce the time required for the voting process used by military and overseas voters
• Comply with the MOVE Act by allowing applications for absentee ballots to be issued and submitted by electronic means
• Allow for blank military and overseas absentee ballots to be issued by electronic means
• Allow for expedited return of absentee ballots from military and overseas voters by prepaid Express Mail or by military aviation
• Ensure the same ballot privacy        protections to military and overseas voters as enjoyed by other voters—both at the casting and at the receiving of such ballots.

….and that if someone does vote, his/her vote counts as it was intended and cast:  

• Apply SARAT (secure, accurate, recountable, accessible and transparent) criteria to voting systems

o   Take stronger measures to protect the absentee ballot from fraud and undue influence

o   Ensure the use of a voter-marked paper ballot or other voter-marked paper record, said paper being the official record of the voter's intent

o   Adopt Internet-based voting or allow for electronic transmission of a completed ballot only when the systems are able to meet the SARAT criteria and can reliably address concerns regarding the risks of identity theft, fraud, voter disenfranchisement, and lack of confidentiality.

o   Consider consultation by national experts—such as the Overseas Vote Foundation—in the design of military and overseas voting improvements

• Verify election results

o   Continue timely and uniform post-election recanvasses and random audits.

In order to promote reliable, accurate, up-to-date scientifically-based information on Internet voting to use in policy-making and as required by P.A. 11-73, the League of Women Voters of Connecticut proposes that:   

• The SOTS convene a Fall 2011 conference on the status of Internet voting in the US.

o   Providing invited experts to make presentations

o   Including national experts on Internet voting security and computer science familiar with Internet voting challenges. 

o   Offering time to proponents of Internet voting to make presentations

o   Including public comment and questions

·        The SOTS to outline costs of operation and security of Internet voting

For more information, please contact Catharine Sturgess at sturgess2268@gmail.com.