Dear Editor,During last year’s historic elections, United States citizens went to the polls in record numbers. Many took advantage of absentee ballots and early voting. These processes for voting are relatively new and were designed to make voting more convenient. Unfortunately, absentee voting is not easy for all citizens, especially members of the U.S. Armed Forces serving overseas.Recent studies show many members of our military are not voting due to state laws and bureaucracy. The Uniformed Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act 2007 survey found 47 percent of service members who wanted to vote never had the chance. The survey also found that of the 992,034 absentee ballots requested in 2006 over 660,000 never reached officials to be counted. During the 2008 general election, many Colorado men and women of the armed services who requested ballots never received them.The Pew Center on the States recently released a study that calls on states to take steps to ensure our military personnel have access to a ballot, and their vote is counted. One of their suggestions is to allow servicemen and women to vote electronically, giving military members and government time to ensure votes are submitted and counted.Colorado provides limited e-mail/fax ballot options. I believe we need to offer a real-time, electronic ballot to our troops overseas. Internet capabilities combined with encryption, sufficient security and secrecy will provide real-time ballot access our troops deserve. House Bill 1205 outlines a pilot program that will modernize Internet voting techniques for members of our military serving overseas.With this system, the state would drastically lower clerical errors, eliminate lost mail-in-ballots and encourage overseas military personnel to vote. The bill requires the protection of privacy for the voters, prevents the casting of multiple ballots and is designed to protect against abuse of the system.The Department of Defense Federal Voting Assistance Program, Secretary of State, many Colorado county clerk and recorders and most importantly the military men, women and family members of Colorado support the pilot program and Colorado’s leadership in this very important issue. This legislation will help develop a working model of electronic voting techniques that will provide Internet access to our troops overseas with the necessary security and privacy our military men and women deserve.Marsha LooperColorado House of Representatives, HD19
