As campaign 2000 accelerates, political web sites and the promise of online voting are reshaping the political landscape. This evolution will only continue if Internet democracy remains unhindered by partisan regulations.

At present, the Internet's campaign function is essentially to transfer information. Nearly every White House hopeful has an official site where detailed information is conveniently available. Internet users can browse donor lists, chat with candidates, attend electronic town halls, and view live campaign events. Single candidate supporters can make donations online, learn how to volunteer, and sign up for campaign email.

More objective information can be found at neutral sites. The Democracy Network, for example, features online debates and links to sites across the political spectrum. Similar sites abound, as do "fan sites" sponsored by avid supporters. Together, political web sites are becoming an active part of the democratic process.

According to a recent poll by the Democracy Online Project at George Washington University, Internet-savvy voters are going online to separate fact from political fiction. Nearly 25 percent of respondents had gathered candidate information on the web. 77 percent said they would investigate candidates voting records online, and 50 percent said they would seek out campaign contribution data. As these numbers indicate, the Internet is becoming an accountability mechanism that will grow stronger as web use rises. Internet voting, which would allow ballots to be filed online, will bring even more drastic change. Internet voting, now being investigated could soon be in place. Alaska and Arizona may test an Internet voting system in this year's primaries. Last month, the White House began its own study of the issue. A similar study has just been completed by the California Internet voting task force, which announced in December that a system could be operable in 2001 were it not for a few substantial barriers.

Any system for that important task must be secure against hackers and viruses and able to verify voters' identities. This cannot be guaranteed today and, according to task force member Michael Alvarez, this could delay "full-blown Internet voting...for at least another decade." California will likely adopt a phase-in plan that soon places Internet voting stations alongside ballot boxes at polling stations.

Whenever it is widely adopted, Internet voting will help increase voter turnout, which is low and falling. According to Alvarez, a political scientist at the California Institute of Technology, online voting could raise voter participation between two and four percent. It is not apparent which party - if any - this would favor but several scenarios are possible.

Those aged 18-24 who are Internet-savvy but tend not to vote could participate more, shifting votes to Democrats. Republicans could receive a similar boost from older, wealthier Americans. Any online voting scheme would be less accessible to minorities and low-income groups, which are less likely to go online. Skyrocketing web use, however, could cancel out these effects or spawn unforeseen changes. Regardless of the voting shifts it facilitates, online voting will be part of an Internet democracy that could reinvigorate the political process.

Inexpensive and cost-effective, web sites allow low-profile candidates to more easily compete with the moneyed establishment. Already, more voters have more information about more candidates than ever before, forcing candidates to be more honest and competitive. Regulation could hinder that process, but regulators deserve applause for their current approach.

So far they have avoided new regulations intended to influence Internet politics. In November, the Federal Election Commission reversed an earlier decision and announced that unofficial campaign sites will not be considered campaign contributions. This ensured that political dialogue will remain outside the tangled web of campaign regulations. This anti-regulation trend, however, will be tested when Internet voting becomes feasible.

Internet voting will likely spawn a voter participation shift that favors one entrenched interest and threatens another. As the consequences become clearer, and politicians identify what is at stake, they will be tempted to cripple Internet voting or stymie it altogether. If the Internet is to realize its potential to reinvigorate the political process, legislators must refuse to let such partisan politics smother participatory democracy.

*Justin Matlick is a Senior Fellow in Information Studies at the Pacific Research Institute. To learn more about PRI and the Center for Freedom and Technology, see www.pacificresearch.org.