Page 4 - ARUBATODAY

A4 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 23 January 2020

Obscure Seattle election offers

experiment in online voting

SEATTLE (AP) — An election registered voter is eligible "I've vetted this, technol-
for a volunteer board in the to vote online, using their ogy experts in the region
Seattle area is so obscure phone or a touch-screen have vetted this to ensure
that voter turnout is typi- device, The Seattle Times that this is a safe, secure
cally less than 1%. Officials reported Wednesday, cit- voting opportunity."
are giving online voting a ing Tusk Philanthropies. The Washington Secretary of
trial run this year to try to nonprofit is partnering with State Kim Wyman said she
boost turnout and explore King County on the pilot was not convinced. She
how it might work in a big- project during the race for said her office, which does
This Nov. 7, 2018, file photo shows an election worker stacking ger election. the King Conservation Dis- not oversee conservation
ballots into a sorting machine at the King County Elections office It will be the first election in trict Board of Supervisors. district elections, learned
in Renton, Wash.
Associated Press the country in which every "This election could be a of the plan only this week.
key step in moving toward She said she is seeking to
electronic access and re- roll back electronic bal-
turn for voters across the lot returns in the state and
region," said Julie Wise, would closely monitor what
county elections director. happens in the conserva-
"My role here is to remove tion district election.
barriers to voting." "Cyber experts I have
Online voting trials also worked with, including the
have been offered in a FBI, the Department of
few other states for absen- Homeland Security, and
tee and military voters, but the Washington National
many security experts have Guard, overwhelmingly
warned against expanding have identified electronic
it, saying it could be vulner- transmission as too risky for
able to hacking. voting and could leave
Wise acknowledged that voter information and
many people may be leery election infrastructure im-
about voting online. paired," she said in a state-
"There's a lot of things we ment Wednesday. "As the
do online — banking, chief election officer for
health records — that are the state of Washington,
also of concern for people I'm not willing to take that
that are secure," Wise said. risk." q