By Bob Johnson, Associated Press
Montgomery, AL – Secretary of State Beth Chapman said Monday that she'll push for a bill this legislative session to allow military personnel and others living overseas to cast ballots online.
Chapman, the state's top elections official, made the statement after hearing a presentation on a Florida Panhandle county that allowed voters in three locations overseas to cast ballots in the 2008 general election. The presentation was made to a panel that advises Chapman on military voting issues.
The supervisor of elections in Okaloosa County, Fla., Pat Hollarn, told the group a total of 93 Internet ballots were cast by Okaloosa County voters in Japan, Germany and England.
Bills were introduced in the Legislature this year that would have authorized electronic voting by Alabama residents overseas, including military service members, but died because of concerns over how the process would work and how ballots would be kept secret and secure.
Rep. Mike Hill, R-Columbiana, introduced a bill that passed the House Constitution and Elections Committee but died without coming up for a vote on the House floor. He said his bill mostly died because Alabama's probate judges and officials in the secretary of state's office could not agree on how the process would work.
Hill said he still believes it's an issue the Legislature needs to address.
"We need to do anything we can do to make it easier and to encourage them to vote. Who else deserves the right to vote more than those who are fighting for it?" Hill said.
Rep. Jimmy Martin, D-Clanton, chairman of the House Constitution and Elections Committee, sponsored one electronic voting bill last year and said he expects the issue to be a priority in the coming session.
"We will definitely have a bill," Martin said.
According to a report the Secretary of State's office prepared, a total of 5,743 votes were cast in the 2008 general election by Alabama residents living overseas, out of about 2.1 million votes cast overall in Alabama.
Hollarn said Monday she feels Internet voting would greatly increase the number of votes cast from citizens overseas, including military personnel.
She said in the past election Okaloosa County set up voting kiosks near large military bases in Germany, England and Japan. She said military personnel from Okaloosa County cast their votes at the kiosks over a 10-day period and the votes were transmitted to county officials over a secure Internet line. She said paper copies of the ballots were also retained in case they were needed for a recount.
House Majority Leader Rep. Ken Guin, D-Carbon Hill, said he has concerns about how the privacy and security of votes transmitted over the Internet would be protected.
"We want to find a way to help those in the military vote, but we also want to protect the election process," Guin said.