MONTGOMERY - Alabama soldiers stationed overseas cannot use an Internet-based system to obtain absentee ballots because state law prohibits "electronic forms of voting over the Internet," state Attorney General Troy King said Tuesday.

King's opinion was issued in response to a request by Secretary of State Nancy Worley, who wanted to implement the Defense Department-run Interim Voting Assistance System for the Nov. 2 general election.

The system allows soldiers to apply for and receive an absentee ballot over the Internet, then print the ballot and return it by regular mail. The current process - using regular mail for all ballot correspondence - takes up to 30 days, and Worley said the Web-based system would have cut that time by more than half.

But King said it was too late to change the law to allow the system. He also said any change in voting procedure has to be approved by the U.S. Justice Department.

King's opinion could affect the opporitunities to vote for those in various branches of the armed forces.

It could also impact Alabama Army National Guard members and reservists now in and around Iraq. The Guard has about 1,400 soldiers in Iraq, another 200 in Afghanistan, and about 400 members of a Marine Reserve unit from Bessemer recently arrived in Iraq. Not all the soldiers are from Alabama.