ASHINGTON - Arizona Democrats for the first time can cast their ballots over the Internet during the party's presidential primary in March.
As many as 50,000 Democrats will be able to vote on line from their homes and offices, as long as they registered with the party in advance and received a special digital code to verify their identity. They also will be able to vote at ''on-line booths'' set up in at least one voting center in each community in the state, said Cortland Coleman, the Arizona Democratic Party's political director.
Originally, the state party had wanted to hold its primary Feb. 22, the same day Arizona Republicans are having theirs. But when the Democratic National Committee objected because of an already hectic voting calendar, the Arizona Democrats decided to schedule their primary for March 11 and drum up interest in a different way.
''The Republicans are holding theirs three weeks earlier, and we wanted to get some publicity,'' Coleman said. ''We were looking at different ways we could increase participation, increase excitement.''
Several states and counties have experimented with on-line voting. But none has held an Internet election that really counts. In most cases, the votes have simply been to see whether the on-line systems work.
Despite concerns from political scientists, many companies developing the software and technology for on-line elections say they are confident of the security and accuracy. There are other worries, too. Arizona election director Jessica Funkhouser said ''several things would have to happen'' before Internet voting takes root beyond the state Democratic Party, including somehow ensuring that voters in poor areas have equal access to the polls even if they don't have computers or access to the Internet.
As a result, she said, all eyes will be on the state's Democratic primary in March.
''We're interested in looking at it,'' she said. ''We'll do anything that will help people who want to participate.''
