Sidebar: Debra Bowen: Change Agent

Elected to the California Assembly in 1992, Debra Bowen wasted little time establishing herself as one of the state Legislature's most tech-savvy members. In 1993, she authored a bill that put California legislative information online - a first in the nation. The measure allowed citizens to access bill text, committee analyses and lawmakers' voting records. It also set off alarms among veteran lawmakers.

"The concept was fairly new. It was very scary," Bowen said. "I had other legislators tell me that no one would use it and that my voting record would be hacked to make it look like I voted for all the tax increases."

That same year, Bowen ran into another fight when she sought to become the first California lawmaker with an official e-mail address. She was successful, but only after winning special permission from the Assembly Rules Committee.

"It's inconceivable now that you would have an elected official who doesn't have an e-mail address, but that was the norm," she said. "Our expectations about how people are going to do things have changed dramatically, and I think government has gone along with that."  

Bowen chalked up other IT-related breakthroughs over her 14-year legislative career. She was the first California lawmaker to have a Web site and post her campaign finance reports online. In 1995, she authored the California Digital Signature Act, pioneering legislation that allowed state agencies to accept digitally signed documents.

As secretary of state, Bowen has tried to use technology to engage young voters. Working with California's superintendent of public instruction, Bowen launched MyVote California, a Web site that let students cast votes in a mock presidential primary one week before California voters went the polls in February. (Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama cruised to victory with 56 percent of the vote.) Students will get another chance to cast presidential ballots during an Oct. 30 mock general election.