Report Title:

Internet Voting

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, for a representative democracy to function properly, as many citizens as possible must be involved in the political process, as a government of the people cannot exist without public participation; and

WHEREAS, voting is the most important way in which an individual may participate in politics, but voter turnout has been declining for many years, both nationally and locally; and

WHEREAS, the technology of the Internet has allowed the transfer of information to be conducted more efficiently than ever before, transforming forever the way in which people communicate; and

WHEREAS, voting via the Internet could prove to have tremendous advantages over the traditional voting process, and could increase voter participation significantly; and

WHEREAS, voting via the Internet would allow people to vote from nearly anywhere, and would be especially helpful in recruiting younger voters; and

WHEREAS, Internet voting would also increase efficiency, as results would be tabulated instantly, and would also be significantly cheaper in the long run as it would require far less manpower than traditional voting; and

WHEREAS, however, there are some negative aspects to voting via the Internet, as access to the Internet is not yet universal, and women, the poor, and minorities could be disenfranchised by this process as they tend to have less access to computers and Internet applications; and

WHEREAS, those who have access to the Internet comprise the demographic group who have the highest voter turnout, suggesting that Internet voting might not afford better access to those who most need to become involved in the democratic process; and

WHEREAS, there are also vast technical considerations that could impede Internet voting, including establishing a reliable method of authenticating voter identity and ensuring that technical glitches do not ruin the results of an election; and

WHEREAS, all of these and other aspects of Internet voting need to be carefully considered and studied before voting via the Internet can be considered a viable option; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to conduct a study on the feasibility of voting via the Internet; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2002; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Acting Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau.