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British E-Voting Pilots Announced

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the progressive-thinking dept.

rimberg writes "The Department for Constitutional Affairs has announced it is going to trial Electronic voting using the internet and/or telephone. Bridget Prentice, Elections Minister at the department said 'We need to make sure that people can vote in more convenient ways consistent with a modern lifestyle. [...] More and more people, and particularly young people, are using the internet everyday. We need to see if we can use this to encourage people even more to participate in the democratic process.' The Open Rights Group (Think British EFF) have responded by saying 'E-voting threatens the integrity of our elections and we oppose its use in our democracy.'"

4 of 166 comments (clear)

  1. Re:mail? by VJ42 · · Score: 5, Informative

    When we tried it here in the UK, a judge said it would be"worthy of a banana republic". So what works for Oregon may not work for us.

    --
    If I have nothing to hide, you have no reason to search me
  2. Re:Why must it be stupidly convenient? by cliffski · · Score: 2, Informative

    you must be American :D. there are never queues in the UK that I'm aware of. I've never queued more than 4 seconds to cast a vote my entire life.

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    DRM-free indie games for the PC and Mac: Positech Games
  3. Re:Why must it be stupidly convenient? by VJ42 · · Score: 3, Informative

    What if you were able to take your time with voting instead of being rushed through a line/queue with 20 people waiting for you to finish when you finally get to the polling station? Whereabouts do you live*, and how long do the people near you take to put a cross in a box? I have never ever had to wait more than 10 seconds to vote, and have weeks running up to election day to make up my mind (admittedly last general election I changed my mind at the last minute and spoiled my ballot paper). Usually there is absolutely no one else at the polling station except the clerk and returning officer.

    *If you're not in the UK, we have quite small constituencies and lots of polling stations in each, combined with a low voter turnout. That means no waiting and quick results.
    --
    If I have nothing to hide, you have no reason to search me
  4. Re:Why must it be stupidly convenient? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Never been in a voting queue for more than five minutes in Norway. I have been voting in both the small districts and in the largest district.

    Many experienced volunteer helpers makes it a effective event. We do not have any problems with election fraud either. Might be the Norwegian tradition of not let annyone push us around.

    Norway is a nice country with no higher class and no lower class. A Norwegian is mostly happy as long as you stay away and give him space.

    Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland figure among the top countries on the UN index because of their high levels of education, democracy, income and public health
    http://www.scandinavica.com/culture/society/UNrepo rt.htm