Like e-voting, our democracy is inadequate and far from secure

BEVERLY FLYNN is a fine, shining example — of what should happen to Minister for the Environment Martin Cullen, just for starters.

Bev merely tampered with our tax laws; Martin Cullen, in pursuing e-voting so zealously, dared tamper with democracy, at the behest of the Government. (In fact, the entire cabinet was in favour of it, so we should be facing a general election if they could accept the gravity of the fiasco they nearly created and resign).

Our voting system is fundamental to our democratic process and it's not an exaggeration to say that democracy in this country had a miraculous escape just a week ago. Have no doubt about it, if Martin Cullen's zealous intention o force his version of electronic voting on the electorate in the forthcoming local and Euro elections had been successfully perpetrated, democracy would have been the victim.

And still nobody is held to account.

It is symptomatic of the arrogance of the Fianna Fáil Government, and their PD sleeping partners, that they were more than willing to dice with our vote, for whatever reason.

The Commission on Electronic Voting confirmed the concern of those who had voiced serious misgivings. It found the system which Martin Cullen promoted could not be trusted to be accurate, secret or secure.

Ominously, the experts retained by the commission to examine the system said it was very easy to bypass electronic measures and "in theory, to gain complete control over the count in a given constituency."

Cast your eye over that last assertion again, with its menacing implication that the result in any constituency could easily be manipulated.

Also, forget about "in theory," and substitute "you can be bloody sure..."

It's threatening in the context that the Government was insisting that there would be no means of auditing the computerised results. Martin Cullen dismissed the need for paper records.

Had Fianna Fáil won a landslide victory in the local elections, there would have been no fall-back system to gainsay that result.

That was one of the main concerns of those who voiced their apprehension about what was being foisted on us.

The waste of €52m on the system , and another €4.5m to convince a sceptical public to use it, should be a resigning or sacking offence.

In February of this year the opposition parties dismissed as "inadequate" changes to electronic voting proposed by the Government in an attempt to allay concerns about the system.

During a debate in the Dáil, Minister for Finance Charlie McCreevy accused them of a "diabolical and appalling attempt" to create doubt about electronic voting.

Standing in for Martin Cullen to defend the indefensible, Charlie McCreevy described their actions as a cynical political exercise. The opposition parties also criticised the length of time they were being given to examine the Electoral (Amendment) Bill.

When Labour's Eamon Gilmore criticised the fact that the Bill was being introduced by the Fianna Fáil director of elections, and that it would change the way people vote at polling stations, Tánaiste Mary Harney accused him of trying to introduce "scare stories," and made it quite plain that the minister was acting on behalf of the Government in this matter. Mr Gilmore said that Ms Harney was allowing Fianna Fáil to 'turn this country into a banana Republic'.

After the debacle, both Bertie Ahern and Martin Cullen were trying to make a virtue of the fact that they accepted the decision of the commission. But that commission would never have been set up but for the doggedness of the opposition in trying to thwart an obvious attack on our franchise.

It was pathetic to hear Bertie Ahern assert that no money had been wasted and that the machines that had been bought would have a lifespan of 20 years. Many people had the sneaking suspicion that the machines were intended to give the Government a lifespan of 20 years.

When he was asked whether he had received, contemplated or accepted any ministerial resignations, he replied curtly: "No. No. No." What was that about the cock crowing three times?

This was the same Taoiseach who scathingly dismissed those who had criticised with good reason the electronic voting system as wanting to do things "the backwards way."

IN the aftermath of the report, he said it was "unfortunate" that the system would not be used in the forthcoming elections. Unfortunate for whom? Certainly not the voter, because the chances are that we would have ended up with a Florida-like result had the e-voting gone ahead the way the Government was insisting it should.

But, unlike Florida, we might never have known.

It is hardly any wonder that Martin Cullen has been able to face down the calls from the opposition for his resignation because one of the staunchest supporters of e-voting was his boss.

He is comfortable in the knowledge that, despite the monumental cock-up he will be forever identified with, he was aided and abetted by Bertie Ahern.

Any government which is prepared to jeopardise such a fundamental bedrock of democracy as the vote of the people, and is found out, should resign en masse.

Standing by is not something new to Fianna Fáil, and I'm not referring to Jack Lynch. At the moment, an incredible €400 million worth of newly-built hospital facilities are idle because Minister for Health Mícheál Martin doesn't have the money to open them.

So, what would it take to open them up? Ironically, almost precisely the value of Cullen's computers which are mothballed in some warehouse.

It's amazing they weren't knocked off last weekend while thousands of gardaí were waiting hoping? for the riots that never happened during the May Day accession ceremony. Maybe they were.

In fact, there were more arrested in Killarney during a major motor rally in the town than there were in Dublin and without the aid of borrowed water canon.

That €50m-plus spent on computers could have provided hundreds of hospital beds and up to 1,500 staff, with a resultant very serious reduction in the waiting list.

A better health service would begin to emerge, something which would be appreciated by the 27,000 on the lists who would have a better chance of a cure in Lourdes than of getting a hospital bed here.

However, miracles will begin to happen here when a litany of announcements about improvements to the health service begin to appear well in time for the forthcoming elections.

With Martin Cullen's arrogant posturing on the e-voting out of the way, it would be apt to apply Winston Churchill's observation about Sir Stafford Cripps to him: "There, but for the grace of God, goes God."