Americans abroad head to polls

2008-02-05 11:46

Jakarta - Americans living overseas started lining up in hotels and coffee shops on Tuesday to vote for Democratic candidates in the 2008 US presidential elections, while others - for the first time ever - cast ballots online.

But some voting experts expressed fears that internet ballots were vulnerable to tampering, computer hacking and could not be authenticated or recounted.

Indonesia, where candidate Barack Obama once lived as a child, kicked off the Super Tuesday campaign at the stroke of midnight. More than a hundred people turned out at the JW Marriott Hotel in the normally bustling capital, saying America needed to restore its reputation across the globe.

"Living overseas, I think that's the most important thing," said Peter Gardiner as he waited in line with his family. "We've had eight years of an administration that has basically destroyed America's image."

Balloting lasts a week

While votes to choose party candidates were taking place in more than 20 US states on Tuesday, the busiest day in the US primary election season, overseas balloting lasts for a week. Polling booths were being set up in locations ranging from a doughnut shop in Cambodia, to a pub in Ireland, to a French cafe.

"This is a critical election. We are at a tipping point," said Don Bryant, a 54-year-old retired US Army medical officer among dozens voting at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand.

"The direction it goes will make a big difference in the life my children have."

Some six million expatriates are eligible to vote, but only a fraction have done so in the past. Up until recently, their only option was to mail absentee ballot request forms to their last US county of residence, then wait for ballots to be delivered in time to vote.

Melissa Howell-Alipalo, a long-time resident in the Philippines, was among those voting online on Tuesday - an option that, like overseas in-person voting, is not available to Republicans.

She said it couldn't have been easier.

"I registered with Democrats Abroad, I was approved, received my ballot number and a pin code in an e-mail. I clicked on the hyperlink, entered my ballot number, address and birth date."

Then presto, Howell-Alipalo said, she voted.

No Republican votes overseas

Republicans Abroad has operated independently of its national party since 2003, and therefore cannot hold in-person or internet votes overseas. But it is organising to get more expatriate Republicans registered back home in time to receive their ballots overseas and cast them in primaries later this year.

The Democratic National Convention in August will include 22 delegates from overseas. Under party rules, they get half a vote each for a total of 11. That's more than US territories get, but fewer than the least populous states, Wyoming and Alaska, which get 18 delegate votes each.

The overseas delegates will be selected through a combination of local, regional and worldwide caucus meetings.

- AP