Civil liberties advocates are sounding an alarm over a bill in Puerto Rico that would shift voting online, warning it threatens election security and voting rights, NPR reported.
The American Civil Liberties Union and its Puerto Rico chapter urged the island's governor, Wanda Vázquez, to veto a bill containing the Internet voting plan.
"There is no secure way to hold elections online," they wrote in a Wednesday letter to the governor, NPR reported.
"This measure is misguided, dangerous, and will needlessly expose Puerto Rico's voting system to hacking and disruption."
The ACLU said "such disruption will only result in greater public mistrust of key democratic institutions."
The group also raised concerns about whether all Puerto Rican communities would have access to the Internet to vote, particularly in light of the devastation suffered by Puerto Rico during recent natural disasters.
"Hurricane María and recent earthquakes along the southern coast have made clear that the island's infrastructure — particularly, electrical power systems essential to Internet access — remains precarious; it would be reckless to trust all voting systems to its well-being," the ACLU warned.
The online voting plan is part of a bill to reform the U.S. territory's electoral code. The bill is expected to be approved by the legislature by the end of this week, NPR reported.
The measure calls for Puerto Rico's electoral commission to create an Internet voting program within eight years.
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