Maryland’s General Assembly is expected to reach final agreement in coming days on a measure promoted by Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) that for the first time would allow residents to register to vote and cast a ballot on the same day. Same-day registration would occur during early voting, which under the bill would beexpanded from six days to eight. In addition, the number of early voting sites would be increased.With thousands of voters in the Washington suburbs and beyond standing in line for hours at polling places in November, the measure would also require state election officials to study how to reduce the average wait to 30 minutes or less. Although it has been warmly received by much of the General Assembly, the legislation has been caught up, in part, over efforts to fix a provision that would allow absentee voters to receive ballots over the Internet instead of by mail. Advocates for people with disabilities have lobbied heavily for the measure, saying it would allow those who need a lot of time to vote or who cannot vote without the help of others to do so more conveniently from home. But a group of election technology experts warned last month that the online system could be exploited on a mass scale, potentially jeopardizing election results.
The Maryland House and Senate have passed similar proposals to tighten security, and key lawmakers on Thursday predicted that a final compromise could be reached this week. But a grass-roots voting group said the proposed changes would still leave the online-ballot-delivery system vulnerable.
If approved, the system would allow any Marylander who votes absentee to receive a password by e-mail to download and mark a ballot at home before mailing it back to election officials.
… Rebecca Wilson, co-director of the nonprofit group SAVE Our Votes, said providing the last four digits of a Social Security number would fix only the most glaring vulnerability. She said the online ballot delivery should not be used until independent security experts review the system fully. “We don’t know what other vulnerabilities may be there that we don’t know about yet,” she said.
Part of the concern over the bill has been whether it is a first step toward moving Maryland to full online voting, something Wilson’s group fiercely opposes because the state does not verify signatures on ballots.
Full Article: Md. lawmakers near agreement on early voting bill – The Washington Post.
