Military voting passes House

HB 711 has passed the House by an 89-3 vote.

Now the bill that expands voting options for military members and overseas citizens heads to the Senate.

Secretary of State Beth Chapman said, "We've come a long way."

Chapman has headed Gov. Bob Riley's task force on military and overseas voting, which has been meeting for the last year to develop this legislation. The committee includes election officials, court clerks, military members, lawmakers and others.

"Its just one of those moments for me as Secretary of State that I have to pinch myself and say, 'Has this really happened?'"

If the bill passes the Senate, as Chapman expects to happen, the bill would create one of the nation's first electronic voting programs.

The bill would establish five methods of requesting ballots -- mail, e-mail, fax, secure transmission (kiosks) and commercial carriers. Ballots could be returned in four ways -- mail, fax, secure electronic transmission and commercial carriers.

"There's so many days that people beat up on the legislature and sometimes its justified and sometimes its not, but when a day like this occurs and they pass something monumental that's not just great for the state but the nation, you just have to take your hat off and say thank you," Chapman said.