Cullen admits mistake over e-voting debacle

TRANSPORT Minister Martin Cullen has finally conceded he got it wrong on electronic voting.

“I suppose with hindsight, yes, I might have dealt with it differently,” he said last night of the manner in which he handled the issue. “I’ll put my hands up.”

Mr Cullen’s willingness to acknowledge mistakes is in stark contrast to the Taoiseach, who only last week attempted to blame the opposition parties for the debacle, saying they had set out to find fault with the €52 million system.

In his previous portfolio at the Department for the Environment, Mr Cullen had responsibility for the e-voting system. Security concerns were raised after the system was used on a pilot basis in a few constituencies in the general election and second Nice referendum in 2002.

But Mr Cullen was having none of it, insisting the system would be rolled out fully for the June 2004 local and European elections.

In 2003 and early 2004, Mr Cullen waved away concerns about the system.

In November 2003, for example, two computer experts who were Labour Party members compiled a report suggesting the system was open to vote-rigging.

Mr Cullen lambasted the report as “irresponsible and unfounded”.

“The system Ireland has used successfully and will use next year is the most secure electronic system that exists in the world,” he said.

Speaking in the Dáil on February 3, 2004, Mr Cullen assailed Fine Gael TD, Bernard Allen, for raising “spurious questions” about the system’s security.

On April 8, 2004, Mr Cullen dismissed the concerns of Fine Gael, saying: “The party does not have a bull’s notion of what is going on.”

However, the independent Commission on Electronic Voting stated it did not have requisite confidence in the system for it to be used in the elections.

The Government abandoned the plan, and the machines have been mothballed ever since.

Speaking on NewsTalk 106’s The Right Hook programme last night, Mr Cullen said he would do things differently if he had the chance again.

“I suppose if I was to go back, I would have said let’s do another testing phase in the next election rather than moving it into full use immediately, but there isn’t a person yet who hasn’t made a mistake on things, and if that’s a mistake, I put my hands up.”