:: Deepquest ::

In a decision that could affect Americans abroad who are not yet registered to vote in the Nov. 2 presidential election, the Pentagon has begun restricting international access to the official Web site intended to help overseas absentee voters cast ballots.
According to overseas-voter advocates who have been monitoring the situation, Internet service providers in at least 25 countries – including Yahoo Broadband in Japan, Wanadoo in France, BT Yahoo Broadband in Britain and Telef?nica in Spain – have been denied access to the site of the Federal Voting Assistance Program, apparently to protect it from hackers.

In an e-mail addressed to a person in France who had tried to access the Web site, the Federal Voting Assistance Program’s Web manager, Susan Leader, wrote: ?We are sorry you cannot access [url=http://www.fvap.gov]www.fvap.gov[/url] Unfortunately, Wanadoo France has had its access blocked to U.S. government Web sites due to Wanadoo users constantly attempting to hack these sites. We do not expect the block to be lifted.”

In Washington, a Pentagon spokeswoman reached by telephone confirmed that a number of Internet service providers worldwide had been blacklisted to thwart hackers. The spokeswoman, Lieutenant Colonel Ellen Krenke, declined to comment further.

The Federal Voting Assistance Program, which was designed to help both military and civilian voters abroad, is under the authority of the Defense Department.

Asked whether any other government Web sites had been blocked, a Pentagon spokesman declined to comment.

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