Vote machines failed

JAMES A GLEESON (Letters, May 19) is mistaken in his contention that the e-voting machines purchased by the Government have passed the test.

That has been contradicted by the report of the Government’s own commission. It said that without a vote-verified paper printout, there was no way of “resolving any doubt in an electronic voting result”. The commission concluded that “this creates the potential for the legitimacy of the system to be undermined”.

Contrary to Mr Gleeson’s assertion, therefore, the commission has declared that, with the chosen system, it would be impossible to verify that the votes counted were the votes cast and also declared it to have the potential to undermine the electoral system.