e-Voting System Slammed By Critics

By Colm Heatley

The Irish government's e-voting system was labeled a 'shambles and a waste of money' this week after an independent report commissioned by the government said the system would have to be scrapped.

The e-voting system, which allows voters to vote via the internet, has taken four years to develop and cost more than 52M Euro so far.

However an independent test on the system revealed that in some instances the wrong candidate was eliminated where votes were tied, the software could not be relied upon to give an accurate result and that the software was also vulnerable to manipulation to change the vote.

The findings of the investigation have caused embarrassment for the government, who have promoted the e-voting system as an antidote to falling voter turnout in Ireland.

The system was used on a pilot basis in the 2002 general election and in seven constituencies in the Nice Referendum the same year.

Experts warned that the outcome of those election results may not be accurate.

The cost of redesigning the system could be in excess of 5M Euro and could take more than seven years to develop.

Opposition politicians have consistently expressed skepticism about the system's reliability, however the government has always staunchly defended it.

"It is a shocking waste of time and of tax-payers money," Labour leader Pat Rabbitte said this week.

The Commission on Electronic voting, which carried out the report, said it could recommend the use of the computer hardware but not the software used to operate the system.

Experts also warned the government that pursuing an e-voting policy would not necessarily lead to higher voter turn-out.

In countries which have operated some form of e-voting system , such as Holland, Belgium and the USA, voter numbers have not increased despite the use of the system.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern dismissed much of the criticism, saying the report had been mainly positive.

"I am particularly concerned with the commission's overall endorsement of the machines which account for 46M Euro of the total cost of the project," said Mr Ahern.