Online Roll Call debuts at Democratic National Convention
By Mike Ferullo/CNN
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Perhaps the most visible difference on the floor of the 2000 Democratic convention from past party gatherings is the prominent placement of 56 sleek Apple iMac computers at the location of each and every state and territorial delegation.
Even Democrats admit that the start-of-the-art technology isn't really neccessary to tally the roll call votes for all-but-crowned nominee Al Gore, who defeated Democratic primary challenger Bill Bradley five months before the opening gavel of the convention.
But they certainly look striking. And more importantly, they help convention organizers pound home their claim that the Democratic Party is the party of the future.
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Technician Sam Houston checks telephone connections to an iMac computer station on the floor of the Staples Center, Sunday
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"It is being billed as the "e-convention," so what what better place to demonstrate it than here on the floor?" said William Taylor, a senior vice president of Election.com, which created the convention's online voting system.
With only a few clicks of the mouse, the delegations will cast their votes on platform questions and Gore's nomination on Wednesday. Election.com tabulates all the votes and presents them to the convention manager, who displays the results on the jumbo television screen above the speaker's podium the convention web site, Dems2000.org.
Traditionalists have little to fear. Microphones are in place next to the computer kiosks so delegation leaders can declare their tallies for Gore and also brag about their state's favorite sons, sport teams, agriculture, and other distinguishing peculiarities.
The system in place is similar to the one that allowed Arizona Democrats to vote online in their primary earlier this year -- the first legally binding election over the Internet. Proponents call it the future of Democracy; detractors say online voting favors wealthier Americans and have raised security and privacy concerns.
Each state delegation leader is provided with a special identification or pin number allowing only him or her to access the a special intranet site for delegates.
"There are three levels of security," explained Rich Feitz, an employee of Election.com "It's an intranet" site, so it totalled closed from the outside; second, the site requires users to enter a personal identification number. Third, each delegation is assigned an IP address on the network, so that a delegation can only vote on that IP address. Wyoming can't walk over to a neighboring state and vote."
IP, or Internet Protocol addresses, are specific numeric codes given to each computer connected to the online voting ballots.
On issue votes, tallies are recorded under 'Yes', 'No', and 'Abstain' columns. If, for example, only 55 of a state's 60 votes are recorded in the columns, the five remaining would be automatically cast in the 'Not Voting' category and sent to the floor manager.
"We need to follow all the rules. Everything that we're doing with these terminals falls exactly within the rules of Democratic convention," Taylor said. The rules of the convention also stipulate that there must be space on delegation ballots for "write-in" candidates,"so we have 'type-in; ballots on our screens," Taylor said.
The computers also let convention organizers keep in touch with each delegation by sending messages about time changes or deletions in the program schedule. A timer on each ballot page alerts delegations when their final votes are due to the convention manager.
"It's important to note that there is a finite amount of time available for voting," said Taylor.
In addition to the convention and the Arizona Democratic primary, Election.com has conducted legally binding online elections for a number of private organizations, including as the Sierra Club, and the United Nations employees credit union.
Taylor refused to reveal how much Democratic convention organizers were shelling out for their services, but said the final bill would be in the "hundreds of thousands" range. He said Republicans were originally intrigued by the online voting idea, but instead decided to stick with the traditional roll call format.
Democrats are also embracing the Internet with open arms. Speakers on the podium are invited to spend 15 minutes after their addresses answering questions on the convention's Web site.
Prominent speakers, including President Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, have declined. But others, including California Senator Diane Feinstein and
Democratic National Committee Chairman Joe Andrew stayed and chatted after their convention appearances.
The Democratic Web site, www.dems2000.com, also features live streaming video of the convention and four 360-degree "be here" cameras, which allow users to control the viewing angles on the podium and the floor.
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Wednesday, August 16, 2000
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