I voted by absentee ballot in 96.
Iowa:
1. Mail in a request for one (Used a form I received in some Democratic
campaign literature, though I didn't vote that way :) )
2. Get the ballot in Mail,
3. Fill it out (#2 Pencil Please!),
4. Place ballot in an "anonymity" envelope,
5. Put it in another envelope you sign saying it's truly your vote.
6. Put it in the mailing envelope and send it on its way.
Went to the polls this year (Didn't get a form from anyone in the mail, too
lazy to write my own letter).
Neil M. Johnson
njohnson@interl.net
http://www.interl.net/~njohnson
PGP Key Finger Print: 93C0 793F B66E A0C7 CEEA 3E92 6B99 2DCC
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tim May"
At 5:53 PM -0500 11/13/00, Declan McCullagh wrote:
On Mon, Nov 13, 2000 at 11:08:01AM -0800, Tim May wrote:
A "vote at home" protocol is vulnerable to all sorts of mischief that has nothing to do with hackers intercepting the vote, blah blah.
Righto. Absentee ballots require a witness, usually an officer (if you're in the military) or a notary-type, to reduct in par tthe intimidation problem.
California absentee ballots require no such thing. My parents, as I said, voted absentee California for many years. They simply filled out their absentee ballots and dropped them in the mailbox.
Maybe the rules were later changed. From 1961 to 1977, this is the way it was.
I just checked. http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/elections_m.htm
"To vote an absentee ballot, a voter needs to submit a completed application or letter to the county elections official between 29 days and 7 days before the election. The application or letter must contain the voter's name as registered, the registered voter address, the address to which the absentee ballot should be sent if different than the registered voter address, the name and date of the election for which the applicant wants the mail-in ballot, and the voter's signature. Once the application is processed by the county elections official, the proper ballot type/style will be sent to the voter. You must then cast your ballot and insert it in the envelope provided for this purpose, making sure you complete all required information on the envelope. Although you sign the outer envelope in order to establish your eligibility to vote, your absentee ballot will be separated from the envelope prior to counting the ballots so that there is no way to violate your confidential vote. You may mail back your voted absentee ballot, return it in person to the polls or county elections office on election day, or, under certain conditions, authorize a legally-allowable third party (relative)to return the ballot in your behalf -- but regardless of how the ballot is returned, it MUST be received by the county elections office by the time polls close (8 p.m.) on election day. Late-arriving absentee ballots are not counted."
No mention of getting a witness, etc.
I'll leave it for others to check on Florida, Idaho, etc. versions.
--Tim May -- ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, ComSec 3DES: 831-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, "Cyphernomicon" | black markets, collapse of governments.