Inside the 2004 Campaign Tool Chest: Blogs and Online Voting

January 5, 2004
Ronald Brownstein:
Washington Outlook

Excerpt:

Last week, the Michigan Democratic Party began what is probably the most ambitious experiment ever in online voting. Michigan Democrats can vote by mail or on the Internet through Feb. 7, when the party will hold its presidential caucuses. The party began accepting requests for mail and Internet ballots on its Web site at 12:01 a.m. New Year's Day; within the first 24 hours, about some 1,500 people had signed up.

Mark Brewer, the party's executive chair, says he expects about 400,000 people to participate in the caucuses and about two-thirds of them to vote online or through the mail. With the first ballots due back by late this week, Brewer says he anticipates "tens of thousands of votes cast" in Michigan before the Iowa caucuses formally kick off the Democratic race on Jan. 19.

No state has ever done anything quite like this. Four years ago, Arizona allowed online balloting in its Democratic presidential contest, but only for a few days before the actual primary. (No other state is offering Internet voting this year.)

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