CDR: Re: A secure voting protocol

[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
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