WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some Americans overseas are being denied access to a Pentagon (news - web sites)-run Web site intended to make it easier for them to vote by absentee ballot due to security measures to thwart hackers, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.
The Federal Voting Assistance Program's Web site offers U.S. military personnel and American civilians living abroad information about voting by absentee ballot in the Nov. 2 election, with links to state election sites.
But security steps put in place to halt hackers have instead blocked an unknown number of Americans overseas from accessing the site,
www.fvap.gov, said Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, a Pentagon spokeswoman.
Quote:"This is a completely partisan thing," one Defense Department voting official stationed in Europe told Salon. The official, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of being fired from her position, is one of the many people in the department assigned to help both uniformed military personnel as well as American civilians register to vote. She described the Pentagon as extremely diligent in its efforts to register soldiers stationed overseas -- for instance, this official had been told by the department to personally meet with all of the soldiers in her unit in order to help them register. But the department has ignored its mandate to help overseas civilians who want to vote, the official said.
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/09/21/overseas_voting/index_np.html
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