04/11/2003

Archived item. This item is published here for historical reasons. The information below may be out of date.

Labour claims on electronic voting irresponsible and unfounded"

– Cullen

Cullen invites All Party Oireachtas Committee for electronic voting demonstration

6 independent studies verify security of electronic voting

The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Mr Martin Cullen, TD, today (Monday 3 November, 2003) has described Labour Party claims on electronic voting as "irresponsible and unfounded".

Minister Cullen said: "The Labour Party report, undertaken by two Labour Party branch secretaries is irresponsible and unfounded.

"Labour's two specific claims on the electronic system are wrong. The system Ireland has used successively and will use next year is the most secure electronic system that exists in the world. At all stages, all aspects of electronic voting have been tested and re-tested by independent experts. My Department has engaged six independent consultancies to verify electronic voting, Labour has engaged two branch secretaries".

Minister Cullen outlined plans to assist the public on the introduction of electronic voting. A nationwide information and awareness campaign, including demonstrations of the new system will commence in the New Year. Minister Cullen has also invited members of the All Party Oireachtas Committee on the Environment to his Department for a full demonstration of the new voting system.

The Department of the Environment, Heritage & Local Government regularly briefed each of the political parties in advance on the introduction of electronic voting at the last General Election. Officials of the Department will further engage with all political parties on a regular basis in advance of next year's elections.

The Minister directly addressed the two core issues raised by Labour – A "Voter Verifiable Audit Trail" (VVAT) and possible tampering.

"Voters can be certain that their vote is recorded accurately and included in the count. The voter sees the ballot paper on the voting machine screen, sees preference details, and upon casting their vote, sees that their vote has been stored.

"As additional reassurance at each polling station, the presiding officer and polling staff will be on hand to verify that each vote has been cast.

"Receipts were not issued under the old system and will not be issued under the new system for the same reason – to protect voters' privacy. Allowing a voter to leave a polling booth with a receipt jeopardises voter security and the anonymity of the ballot paper".

On possible vote tampering, Cullen said: "Specific security protocols and arrangements will be implemented at all stages. The voting machines and count PCs are completely stand-alone and therefore free from the Internet and a network. PCs to be used in the counting of votes will be security hardened and digital signatures will be used to ensure that no tampering has taken place in the transfer of data.

"I note that on Page 6 of Labour's report, the authors themselves say "it would not be easy to attack the election process in this way". Consideration is being given to making certain elements of the programme information available, but we must have regard to issues of security and confidentiality".

Electronic voting was first used at the general election in May 2002 in the constituencies of Meath, Dublin North and Dublin West. Electronic voting was rolled out to seven constituencies at the Nice referendum in October 2002 - Meath, Dublin North and Dublin West, Dublin Mid West, Dublin South West, Dublin South and Dun Laoghaire.

An exit poll of voters who used the electronic system at the 2002 general election showed that 96% of voters surveyed found the voting machine easy to use.

"We have seen that electronic voting has proven very popular with the public where it has been piloted to date, and has been trusted by users", concluded Minister Cullen.