A panel of Oregon lawmakers Tuesday took a small first step toward Internet voting by advancing a bill to study its feasibility, despite concerns about ballot security. Senate Bill 1515 would establish a work group to study the issue and submit a report to the Legislature by Dec. 1. The full Senate is expected to vote on the bill in the coming days. The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Bruce Starr, R-Hillsboro, said studying the concept doesn’t mean the state will definitely move toward Internet voting. Opponents charge that electronic voting systems would be susceptible to malicious hacks that could compromise the security of ballots, especially in light of this month’s breach of the Oregon Secretary of State’s website.
“An orchestrated intrusion from a foreign entity” occurred about Feb. 4, agency officials said. The department’s Central Business Registry and ORESTAR, the state’s online campaign finance reporting system, have remained offline since.
… “As we all know, everything out there is vulnerable to attacks from a minor spambot to very malicious Trojan viruses,” said Sandy Raddue, a Beaverton resident and former software engineer. “Until we can control our electronic environment, I would strongly urge we do not consider any Internet voting now or going forward.”
Full Article: Oregon Internet voting would be studied under bill advanced by Senate panel | OregonLive.com.