Rhode Island Gov. Daniel McKee last week signed legislation that could allow some of the state’s registered voters to cast their ballots over the internet, despite concerns raised by election officials and critics of electronic voting.

The new law, S2118, calls for giving deployed military service members, citizens residing overseas and people with physical disabilities the ability to receive and submit their ballots online. While the legislation passed the Rhode Island General Assembly earlier this year with comfortable margins, it raised criticisms from election-security advocates who’ve long said that submitting votes over an internet connection could imperil the secret ballot.

“The landscape of the internet hasn’t really changed much since the early 1990s,” said C. Jay Coles, a senior policy associate at Verified Voting. “The internet wasn’t designed as a secure space.”

Under the new Rhode Island law, eligible voters could request an electronic ballot if the secretary of state’s office approves a system that’s gone through “one or more independent security reviews” and meets the scrutiny of the cybersecurity framework published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Rhode Island Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea has in previous election cycles used an electronic vendor, Democracy Live, to send eligible voters their ballots, which were then collected through either postal mail or drop-boxes. Gorbea — who is currently challenging McKee for the Democratic Party’s gubernatorial nomination — initially backed the new bill when it was first proposed last year, but dropped her support amid opposition from the state Board of Elections and outside groups.

Rhode Island Gov. Daniel McKee last week signed legislation that could allow some of the state’s registered voters to cast their ballots over the internet, despite concerns raised by election officials and critics of electronic voting.

The new law, S2118, calls for giving deployed military service members, citizens residing overseas and people with physical disabilities the ability to receive and submit their ballots online. While the legislation passed the Rhode Island General Assembly earlier this year with comfortable margins, it raised criticisms from election-security advocates who’ve long said that submitting votes over an internet connection could imperil the secret ballot.

“The landscape of the internet hasn’t really changed much since the early 1990s,” said C. Jay Coles, a senior policy associate at Verified Voting. “The internet wasn’t designed as a secure space.”

Under the new Rhode Island law, eligible voters could request an electronic ballot if the secretary of state’s office approves a system that’s gone through “one or more independent security reviews” and meets the scrutiny of the cybersecurity framework published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Rhode Island Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea has in previous election cycles used an electronic vendor, Democracy Live, to send eligible voters their ballots, which were then collected through either postal mail or drop-boxes. Gorbea — who is currently challenging McKee for the Democratic Party’s gubernatorial nomination — initially backed the new bill when it was first proposed last year, but dropped her support amid opposition from the state Board of Elections and outside groups.