Public blackballs e-voting in consultation

THE independent watchdog set up to assess the secrecy and accuracy of electronic voting has received a decisive thumbs down on the system from its consultation with the general public.

The overwhelming majority of the submissions to the Commission on Electronic Voting express criticisms and concerns about the e-voting system's introduction but the number of actual observations is extremely low.

Recurring themes are the need for a back-up, voter-verifiable paper record, the undermining of democracy, the damage to voter confidence, worries over the lack of secrecy, the reliability of computers and allowing spoiled votes.

Objections were also expressed from people with disabilities to the change in the voting system.

From the 157 written submissions received in response to an invitation for views, only 10 are actually in favour of the proposed e-voting system and even some of these want spoiled votes and a paper trail.

The views expressed will place intense pressure on the commission to address the points raised by those who expressed concerns in its report on May 1.

Despite spending €4.7 million on a PR campaign to sell the merits of electronic voting to the public, the Government's plan raises a wide variety of objections.

While around a quarter of the submissions come from computer and IT professionals raising doubts about the system and software, the bulk of the submissions come from ordinary members of the public.

Extracts from the public submissions include:

"The fact that visually impaired people are being disenfranchised is a disgrace. I'm surprised, or am I, that these voting machines were ordered in the European Year of People with disabilities." Mary Tierney.

"Democracy deserves better." Milo Doyle.

"A great idea. We should move with the times and not get bogged down in the past. There will be teething problems that I am sure will be ironed out eventually. We should all give it a chance." Philip Newton.

"In the present climate of tribunals with implications for many political parties, democracy is vital and to have the choice of spoiling my vote is my right." Pat Kearney.

"The transition to electronic voting at this juncture is a serious undermining of the democratic process." Michael Prendergast.

"There is no proof that computers are any more inaccurate than the work done by people and this electronic voting system at minimum maintains and may actually improve the accuracy of election counts." Niall O'Keeffe.

"If an attendant has to press a button or turn a switch after every vote surely the system is flawed and is prone to human error." John Fintan Fitzgerald.

"It seems that the random element of distributing surplus votes has been programmed into the new system; at a stroke eliminating the strongest reason for changing the system at all. Why?" Brigid Rodriguez.