To discuss, join the Democracies Online Exchange: http://dowire.org/x
P.S. For ideas related to question #4 in particular see
http://e-democracy.org and http://stevenclift.com
Also note: http://e-democracy.org/p3
From:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-09-2431A1.pdf
PUBLIC NOTICE
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th St., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20554
DA 09-2431
Released: November 17, 2009
COMMENT SOUGHT ON MOVING TOWARD A DIGITAL DEMOCRACY
PLEADING CYCLE ESTABLISHED
NBP Notice #20
Comment Date: December 10, 2009
In the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act),
Congress directed the
Commission, in its development of a National Broadband Plan, to
include “a plan for the use of
broadband infrastructure and services in advancing …civic
participation.”1 While civic participation
takes many forms, two processes provide the most direct and regular
interaction opportunities between
government and citizens: 1. the election process, and 2. public
hearings and town hall meetings. The
election process and voting are essential to maintaining a functioning
democracy and are also the civic
processes in which the most Americans participate. Public hearings and
town hall meetings allow citizens
to provide government representatives direct input on specific
concerns and provide government
representatives a direct means to gauge citizen sentiment.
Accordingly, we seek tailored comment on
how broadband can help to bring democratic processes—including
elections, public hearings and town
hall meetings—into the digital age, thereby encouraging and
facilitating citizen opportunities to engage
and participate in their democracy.
1. Registering to Vote.
a. Are there government jurisdictions that have implemented online
voter registration? Can
the impact of online voter registration be quantified compared to
traditional methods,
including registration numbers, voter registration application errors,
and rejected
applications? Are there qualitative impacts of allowing citizens to
register to vote online,
including positive or negative effects?
b. Are there privacy concerns that jurisdictions must address if
online voter registration is
adopted?
c. Are there fraud concerns that government jurisdictions must address
if online voter
registration is adopted? What steps can jurisdictions undertake to mitigate and
elimination potential fraud in facilitating online voter registration?
d. Would allowing citizens to register to vote online make it easier
for those who have to
travel long distances (such as people in rural and Tribal areas) or
people who have
difficulty traveling (such as some elderly or disabled Americans) to
register to vote and
therefore to vote?
e. How would online voter registration affect overseas military
personnel, overseas
diplomatic personnel, or other Americans living overseas?
1 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Pub. L. No. 111-5, §
6001(k)(2)(D), 123 Stat. 115 (2009)
(Recovery Act).
2
2. Processes Leading up to Election Day. There are many steps that
come before the election polls
open and close where broadband and online services may positively
impact civic participation.
a. Do local, state, federal, Tribal or international government
entities offer online
mechanisms for providing information on elections? For example, as a
supplement to
web sites, do governments email out sample ballots or send email
reminders regarding
deadlines for registration? If not, are there existing barriers that
prevent the use of online
mechanisms for providing information on elections?
b. Do local, state, federal, Tribal or international government
entities offer online
mechanisms for voting on days other than election day? For example,
are there online
mechanisms that allow citizens to request absentee ballots, cast
absentee ballots, or to
schedule in-person voting on days other than election day? If not, are
there barriers that
prevent the use of online mechanisms to facilitate voting on days
other than election day?
c. Are there positive or negative effects on the democratic process
that can be directly
attributed to enabling online versions of the processes leading up to
election day?
d. How would enabling online versions of the processes leading up to
election day impact
overseas military personnel, overseas diplomatic personnel or other
Americans living
overseas?
3. Voting. Voting is the most fundamental of civic acts. As technology
transforms all aspects of
society, could voting be transformed as well?
a. With existing technology, is it possible to enable and ensure safe
and secure voting online
today?
b. What can we learn from other nations that have considered or
implemented online
voting?
c. What can we learn from pilot projects that have tested online voting?
d. Have localities or states enabled online voting either domestically
or for citizens abroad
(such as military personnel stationed overseas)?
e. Do government jurisdictions at any level, domestic or foreign,
allow online voting for
any citizen? Have there been quantifiable impacts tied to online
voting, including
impacts on the number of citizens that voted? Have there been
qualitative impacts tied to
online voting, either positive or negative?
f. What are the security and privacy risks that government
jurisdictions must consider when
considering the implementation of online voting?
g. What are the history and current state of play of online voting
technologies?
h. What are best practice processes concerning online voting?
i. How would enabling online voting impact overseas military personnel,
overseas
diplomatic personnel or other Americans living overseas?
4. Online Government Hearings and Online Town Hall Meetings. The
proliferation of Internet-based
tools and high speed technologies that enable high quality video, have
enabled new venues
for civic participation. Where Congressional committee hearings and
city council meetings across
America were limited by the size of a room and the citizen’s resources
to travel to the meeting
location, broadband-enabled technologies now hold the potential to
eliminate these barriers for
millions of Americans. We seek to better understand the power of these
tools and technologies to
increase civic engagement and empower citizens to engage their government.
a. What are the technological models across cities, states, the nation
and the globe for
citizen participation in government meetings and online town halls?
b. What are the barriers to the integration of these technologies?
c. Do online town halls or online public hearings have a noticeable
impact upon the quantity
or quality of civic participation?
d. Do online town halls or online public hearings bring new citizens
into the process of
government?
e. Would Internet-based technologies make it easier for those who have
to travel long
distances (such as people in rural and Tribal areas) or people who
have difficulty
traveling (such as some elderly or disabled Americans) to engage in
the process of selfgovernment?
f. What is the history and current state of play of the relevant
technologies with respect to
online town halls or online public hearings?
This matter shall be treated as a “permit-but-disclose” proceeding in
accordance with the
Commission’s ex parte rules. See 47 C.F.R. §§ 1.1200, 1.1206. Persons
making oral ex parte
presentations are reminded that memoranda summarizing the
presentations must contain summaries of the
substance of the presentations and not merely a listing of the
subjects discussed. More than a one- or twosentence
description of the views and arguments presented generally is
required. See 47 C.F.R.
§ 1.1206(b). Other rules pertaining to oral and written ex parte
presentations in permit-but-disclose
proceedings are set forth in section 1.1206(b) of the Commission's
rules, 47 C.F.R. § 1.1206(b).
All comments should refer to GN Docket Nos. 09-47, 09-51, and 09-137.
Please title
comments responsive to this Notice as “Comments—NBP Public Notice
#20.” Further, we strongly
encourage parties to develop responses to this Notice that adhere to
the organization and structure
of the questions in this Notice.
Comments may be filed using (1) the Commission’s Electronic Comment
Filing System (ECFS),
(2) the Federal Government’s eRulemaking Portal, or (3) by filing
paper copies.2 Comments can be filed
through the Commission’s ECFS filing interface located at the
following Internet address:
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/. Comments can also be filed via the
Federal eRulemaking Portal:
http://www.regulations.gov.3 Generally, only one copy of an electronic
submission must be filed. In
completing the transmittal screen, commenters should include their
full name, U.S. Postal Service mailing
address, and the applicable docket or rulemaking number. Parties who
choose to file by paper must file
an original and four copies of each filing.
Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery, by commercial
overnight courier, or by firstclass
or overnight U.S. Postal Service mail (although we continue to
experience delays in receiving U.S.
Postal Service mail). All filings must be addressed to the
Commission's Secretary, Office of the
Secretary, Federal Communications Commission.
· The Commission’s contractor will receive hand-delivered or
messenger-delivered paper
filings for the Commission's Secretary at 236 Massachusetts Avenue,
N.E., Suite 110,
Washington, D.C. 20002. The filing hours at this location are 8:00
a.m. to 7:00 p.m. All
hand deliveries must be held together with rubber bands or fasteners.
Any envelopes
must be disposed of before entering the building.
· Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service Express
Mail and Priority
Mail) must be sent to 9300 East Hampton Drive, Capitol Heights, MD 20743.
2 See Electronic Filing of Documents in Rulemaking Proceedings, 63
Fed. Reg. 24121 (1998).
3 Filers should follow the instructions provided on the Federal
eRulemaking Portal website for submitting
comments.
· U.S. Postal Service first-class mail, Express Mail, and Priority
Mail should be addressed
to 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20554.
People with Disabilities: To request materials in accessible formats
for people with disabilities
(Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an e-mail
to <email obscured> or call the
Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530, (202)
418-0432 (TTY).
For further information about this Public Notice, please contact Randy
Clarke at (202) 418-1500.
- FCC -
Steven Clift - http://stevenclift.com
Executive Director - http://E-Democracy.Org
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