US voting moves online in Democratic global primary

The Internet and the voting process are developing a manifold relationship. In February, US voting will actually move to the Web with the Democratic Party's first ever online global primary.

Meanwhile, increasingly, voters of all persuasions also have a number of Web-based resources available to them. But still, one site is cautioning visitors not to send in a voter registration request form by "regular e-mail," for security's sake.

Although the online global Democratic primary will happen in cyberspace, the primary will be held in conjunction with a series of regional global caucus meetings that will take place in several locations throughout the globe for the purpose of choosing 22 delgates to represent Democrats Abroad at the Democratic National Convention.

To vote in the US Presidential Elections in November, all overseas American voters must register with the local voting authorities in the place where they last lived in the US.

This process, though, has been automated on Democrats Abroad's voter registration Web site, VoteFromAbroad.org.

Many of the other Web-based resources for voters are also geared to people living overseas, who for obvious reasons might find it more difficult to get their voting questions answered by local authorities in person or by phone.

But there's a wealth of information on these sites for stateside voters, too. One of these sites advises people to get non-partison information about candidates, their voting records, and their positions on issues at the FVAP (Federal Voting Assistance) Web Site, as well as to read their hometown newspapers online and search the Internet for articles and information.

The Overseas Vote Foundation runs a particularly comprehensive site for overseas voters. That site does warn voters, though, not to use e-mail as a means of registering to vote, "unless you have some special type of secure e-mail or file transfer mechanism."