After becoming the first state in the nation last year to allow voting by iPad for the disabled, Oregon is expanding the program this year in size and scope, adding support for overseas military voters as well as support for Windows and Android tablets.
People can use tablets owned by the Oregon Secretary of State's office. The office has 60 iPads, and officials plan to purchase Android and Windows tablets for each county before Election Day. The state uses device-agnostic voting software that can run on any operating system, writes Wylie Wong in StateTech. The state had said last year that it would expand the program statewide if the pilots proved successful. The state also expects to allow the disabled to vote from their home PCs.
In addition, the state is also giving military and overseas voters the option of returning their ballots electronically. Their county clerk will e-mail voters a secure link to a website where they can view, mark and print their ballots. If they wish, they can scan the printed ballot and return it via e-mail, Wong writes.
Oregon has a history of being innovative in its voting solutions; it was the first state to make all elections vote-by-mail, and also uses an online voter registration system.
While it has not yet supported voting by iPad, California has also set up an online voter registration system this year. Eleven other states support online voter registration, including Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, and Utah, while four more states -- Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii and South Carolina -- have passed laws to allow it but have not yet implemented it, according to the National Council of State Legislatures.
