An entire municipality will utilize online-only voting in the next election with all balloting to be run via Scytl, a tech company based in Barcelona, Spain.
The controversial rollout is being deployed not in the U.S., where Scytl two years ago acquired 100 percent of SOE Software, the leading software provider of election management solutions in the United States. The online-only vote will take place Oct. 27 in Canada, when Leamington, Ontario, will become the first Canadian municipality to cast all ballots via an Internet-only voting process.
Every registered voter in Leamington, with a population of about 17,000, must cast ballots through mobile devices or computer. The municipality’s website says “this sole method of voting follows Council’s strategic plan to be environmentally friendly and to embrace technology.” “This cost effective type of voting will also address accessible voters’ issues,” said the site.
Feedback on the news site expressed nearly universal concern about Internet security. Nearly all reader comments opposed the idea of online-only voting.
The U.S. may not be too far from Internet voting. In January, President Obama’s special commission on election reform recommended future electronic voting, even suggesting tablet computers, such as iPads, be used to cast votes.
Obama’s 10-person Presidential Commission on Election Administration released its recommendations:
- Modernization of the registration process through continued expansion of online voter registration and expanded state collaboration in improving the accuracy of voter lists;
- State-of-the-art techniques to assure efficient management of polling places;
- Reforms of the standard-setting and certification process for new voting technology to address soon-to-be antiquated voting machines and to encourage innovation and the adoption of widely available off-the-shelf technologies.
The document states that software-only products “can be integrated with off-the-shelf commercial hardware components such as computers, laptops, tablets, scanners, printers, and even machine-readable code scanners and signature pad products.”
“Tablet computers such as iPads are common components of these new technologies. They can be integrated into the check-in, voting, and verification processes in the polling place.”
The commission called attention to new technologies that allow voters to “pre-fill” sample ballots at home that can be later scanned at the polling place.
The panel addressed concerns that such technologies can be hacked. “The fact that a tablet or off-the-shelf computer can be hacked or can break down does not mean such technology is inherently less secure than existing ballot marking methods if proper precautions are taken.”
The concept of electronic voting is already being tested. In 2012, Scytl announced the successful implementation of technology that allows ballots to be cast using Google and Apple smartphones and tablet computers.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!
Michael H. Drucker
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