Ex-Pat Democrats Able To Vote Online Using Democrats Abroad.Com

Ex-Pat Democrats can cast their ballots online this year in a presidential primary for people living outside the United States. The vote will take place from Feb. 5 until Feb. 12.

Democrats Abroad is an official branch of the party representing overseas votes who still want their voices heard. American Democrats living aboard will be able to vote by the Internet, fax, mail and in person at polling place in more than 100 countries this year.

"The online system is incredibly secure: That was one of our biggest goals," said Lindsey Reynolds, executive director of Democrats Abroad. "And it does allow access to folks who ordinarily wouldn't get to participate."

U.S. citizens must join Democrats Abroad before Feb. 1 if they wish to vote online. One of the rules in joining is to not vote twice for president. Members get a personal identification number from Everyone Counts Inc. That number allows a person to log in and cast their ballot. The online votes from Democrats Abroad will be represented at the August Democratic National Convention by 22 delegates. According to party rules that will allow for a total vote of 11. The online vote will get more votes than that of U.S. territories but not as many as states with low populations like Alaska which get 18 delegate votes. The San Diego based Everyone Counts has been in the software business for a decade. The company has been running the online voting for the British Labor Party since 2000 and other British elections since 2003.

"We've had no security breaches. We do constant monitoring," chief executive officer Lori Steele said. Online voting "provides really a higher standard of security than is available in any other kind of system, including paper."

Steele said a number of U.S. states had contacted her company to inquire about online voting for the 2008 presidential election.

"There are many, many states in the U.S. that would like to be offering this to their expatriate voters, their military voters and their disabled voters," Steele said.

This option is not available for Republican ex-pats. Republicans Abroad has been in operation independently of the Republican Party since 2003.

"In the Republican primary, the overseas vote could actually have a bigger impact: That vote could be the tipping vote, so to speak, that decides an election in a close race," said Steven Hill, an elections expert who directs the New America Foundation's Political Reform Program.