A report from the Electoral Commission has urged the Government to
be cautious of using e-voting in a general election.
The strategic report acknowledged that electronic voting had made a
good start in this year's local elections but warned that more
pilot schemes are needed. "It would be premature to suggest that
the Government is well on its way to delivering against its
commitment to having an 'e-enabled' election some time after 2006,"
it said.
In May's local elections in England some 30 councils tested a range
of voting methods designed to encourage participation in elections
and widen the range of voting methods on offer. These included
voting via the Internet, SMS text messaging and all-postal
voting.
Although no instances of fraud were reported, security was
highlighted by the Electoral Commission as a key issue. The report
said, "Further piloting is clearly necessary to tease out a number
of issues and to establish further the security of these voting
mechanisms."
A spokesman for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, which is
responsible for e-voting, said, "We welcome the Electoral
Commission's report as an important and very helpful contribution
to the electoral modernisation and e-voting program." The
Government will be releasing a memorandum in response to the report
in about one month's time, he added.
The Government is keen to expand the use of e-voting in UK
elections. Last month's spending review allocated £30m over the
next three years to its development.