Minister reaffirms our faith in democracy with e-voting plan

Political Correspondent Fionnán Sheahan says Martin Cullen has inadvertently done the nation a great service.

Thank you, Martin Cullen.

The minister for the environment has inadvertently done the nation a great service.

Through his obstinate attempt to force the electronic voting system upon a doubtful electorate, the minister has reminded us just how much we value our democracy.

Nobody is going to be allowed to make fundamental changes to that electoral process without fully justifying those actions and addressing concerns.

Irrespective of what happens with electronic voting in the forthcoming elections and beyond, the debate over the introduction of e-voting has engendered an appreciation of the democratic nature of this country.

Not only were the opposition parties alarmed by the proposed changes being made without consensus, but the debate also sparked non-political objectors into action.

Similar to the creation of the acclaimed Alliance for Europe during the Nice Treaty II referendum, the civic society group, Irish Citizens for Trustworthy E-voting, showed that ordinary punters will not allow the credibility of the electoral process to be undermined.

Not until the right to anonymously spoil your vote came under threat did people become upset, including many who would always note the importance of exercising your franchise.

Rather than embracing that discourse as a positive sign that the public genuinely do care what happens to our democracy, Mr Cullen chose to arrogantly dismiss it.

On the day of the electronic voting publicity campaign launch, the minister said there were only some reservations but not a lot about his plans as he said no one questioned the integrity of the system in the trial runs in the last general election and in the referendum.

Contrast that with the official response just three weeks later, as the Taoiseach’s spokesperson admitted that the Government was extremely mindful of public concerns.

“The public confidence issue is the one that’s foremost in the Government’s mind,” the spokesperson said.

The quite dramatic turnabout in attitude is testimony to the manner in which the Government failed to convince the public that this significant changeover will not affect the fairness of the system.

Mr Cullen is making quite a habit of galvanising support against his own trenchant views. Health Minister Micheál Martin testified last year that Mr Cullen’s flippant objections to the smoking ban actually assisted him by garnering public support for the move.

Now again, it can be argued that Mr Cullen failed to correctly judge the public mindset. The actual introduction of electronic voting was not the issue, the problem lay in the manner it was being foisted upon the public before all concerns were addressed.

In the relatively brief history of this State, Fianna Fáil has twice attempted to change the electoral system to their own perceived advantage, only to be foiled on both occasions by the will of the people.

The defeat of the referenda on replacing the proportional representation by single transferable vote (PR-STV) system in 1959 and 1968 showed the public were not willing to see changes initiated that affected the equality of a process that predates the foundation of the Irish Free State.

Not wishing to be accused of being a luddite by resorting to the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” school of thought, it’s quite clear almost 40 years later that the general public still have a solid attachment to all aspects of this tried and trusted formula.

Following the last general election, voters gave an overwhelming endorsement to the electoral process in this country. According to a survey conducted by the Central Statistics Office, a little over 70% of the public are satisfied with the workings of democracy in Ireland, with satisfaction levels increasing directly with age. This was a significant vote of confidence in favour of the returning officers in every constituency across the country and their perceived independence among the electorate.

By the way, this survey also showed that almost 60% of people who voted said they enjoyed then watching and listening to the results of the general election on TV and radio.

In other words, rather than merely making your vote and taking your chances, the electorate wants to see the result of their endeavours.

The electoral process is not owned by any political party in this country.

Democracy is cherished by all the people of this nation and hopefully, Martin Cullen has learned that lesson.