Pa. Elections Official: Positive Reaction To Online Voter Registration

HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) -- The state's top elections official says response to Pennsylvania's new online voter registration rollout has been "overwhelmingly positive."

Pennsylvania Secretary of State Pedro Cortes told a joint meeting of the state House and Senate State Government Committees that from its launch on August 27th through October 5th, more than 32,000 applications have been submitted through the state's new online voter registration system. Members of the committees grilled Cortes about the security of the system.

"As much as someone can be assured that this is a secure system, I am," Cortes said. "One-hundred percent? I would never be able to say that to you just because as we see, things happen even with the biggest companies, and where there's a will, there might be a way."

Cortes said some states have been using online voting registration for 13 years without security problems. But the chairmen of the two committees are expressing concerns about whether Pennsylvania's system was launched without full authorization from the legislature.