“Soldiers will be able to vote overseas; S.D. among first to use technology to enable voting while deployed”

Argus Leader:

Absentee voting proved so cumbersome for Maj. Anthony Deiss when the Army National Guardsman was deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 that he admits he “didn’t take advantage of it.”

But that was then. Now thanks to technological advancements that will be unveiled Monday by Secretary of State Jason Gant, South Dakota service members stationed overseas are going to have a new online option for absentee voting.

And Deiss, for one, is all for it.

Not everyone is happy.  A longtime reader emails:

Many questions can be raised about this internet voting initiative.

— is the military CAC card only used for identification/authentication of the voter?
— Are any DoD servers used in this initiative?  If so, in what manner? Are DoD servers being used for transmitting voted ballots, and if so, what privacy and security for secret ballots hidden from the employer (DoD) are provided?
— Has any independent security assessment (e.g., of the type and strength of any encryption used) been conducted, and have the results been published before placing real votes in this voting system?
— Is any proprietary IV Sw used in the project?  If so, what company?
— Was it initiated by the South Dakota SoS or by FVAP/DoD?
— Has any Federal funding/DoD/FVAP grant $ been used in the project?
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