Internet vote lifts Demos' primary to record turnout

Sunday, 12 March 2000

http://www.azstarnet.com/public/dnews/0312N09.html

By Thomas Stauffer
The Arizona Daily Star

Arizona's Democratic primary drew voters in record numbers to the nation's first binding election waged on the Internet, party officials said yesterday.
By last night, more than 37,000 people had voted via the Internet. That more than tripled the approximately 12,000 who voted by traditional ballots in the state's '96 primary, in which Bill Clinton was unopposed.
Yesterday's total increased to more than 78,000 when the state added live voting at polling sites and about 20,000 mail-in votes. That was double the previous high turnout since the party switched from a nominating convention to a primary in 1984.
All of this happened despite Tuesday's withdrawal of former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley, virtually handing the presidential nomination to Vice President Al Gore.
Gore last night led Bradley 78 percent to 20 percent with 93 percent of Arizona's votes counted. Indiana businesswoman Heather Anne Harder, who is running in 10 states, was third with 2 percent.
In a statement released late last night, Gore claimed a victory in Arizona's Internet election.
``I am very proud to win history's first online election,'' Gore said. ``If I am entrusted with the presidency, I will work to make Internet access and computers more available so that more of our people can take advantage of this technology to improve their lives.''
Cortland Coleman, the state party's executive director, said, ``We saw a tremendous increase in voter turnout and we're obviously very pleased.''
Jesse George, Pima County Democratic chairman, also was surprised.
``There was much heavier turnout than we expected.''
The turnout delighted Alice Papcun, a volunteer at the Blenman Elementary School polling site at 1695 N. Country Club Road.
``I remember when I'd go to my polling place and go and commiserate with the people working there and they'd treat me like a long lost friend,'' Papcun said. ``People were standing in line today. I don't remember that happening for many a year.''
The historical significance of the first-ever Internet election was not lost on Ted Downing, a Democratic candidate for District 13 of the state House.
``This is the first time in the history of the world that we've had Internet voting and it's a day that all Arizonans should be proud of,'' Downing said. ``We entered the 21st century today as a democracy, and you're looking at the future.''
Voters yesterday had a choice of using paper ballots or computer terminals at most of the state's 124 polling sites to decide who gets Arizona's 31 delegates. Mail-in ballots were also available.
The Internet voting was not without its problems, as 11 of 15 polling sites in Pima County experienced various glitches and delays, George said.
``There was a real procedural problem with a lot of the technicians, and there were also several sites where the ballots were late from Phoenix,'' he said.
Some early voters yesterday who would have liked to use the Internet were forced to use regular ballots, but by mid-morning things were running smoothly just about everywhere, George said.
David Eagle, the state party's vice chairman and attorney, said he was more than pleased with the Internet voting.
``The system worked well,'' Eagle said. ``We also had no attempts to hack the system, and that was one of our big concerns.''
Dianne Newsome, who voted at about 5 p.m. at Howenstine High School, 555 S. Tucson Blvd., said voting on the Internet was a breeze.
``I really enjoyed it,'' Newsome said. ``It was just easy and quick.''
Martha Nemcosky used the Internet because ``it was something new.''
``I had to have somebody help me because I didn't know how to use it,'' said Newsome, who added she would use the Internet in the next election.
The same could not be said for her husband Frank, who thought about voting online but changed his mind.
``It took the gal in front of me so long to bring it up, I just walked over and got a ballot,'' Frank Nemcosky said. ``It's easier and faster just to mark it down.''
George said paper ballots will probably be around for a while despite the success of Internet voting.
``You don't change the course of traditional practices overnight,'' he said. ``A lot of people just still like the old-fashioned way.''
But plenty of others were more than willing to wait to vote on the Internet, he said.
``In Chinle, 75 older Navajos wanted to vote on the Internet, but there were computer problems. They waited over an hour because they were so eager to be a part of making history,'' George said. ``That was a high point for me.''
Arizona's vote was a glimpse of the future, said Phil Noble, president of the PoliticsOnline, a South Carolina-based company that provides Internet tools for politics.
``They are millions of people on the Internet who want to participate and they're telling me us the Internet is the way they want to participate,'' Noble said. ``What Arizona proves is it's going to happen a lot faster than anyone imagined.''
The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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