[E-voting] Ministerial press release

[Colm MacCarthaigh]

This didn't go out via the normal channels, and it isn't on the
DoE website, which is why I've only seen it now.


IRELAND MINISTER ROCHE WELCOMES LATEST REPORT BY COMMISSION ON
ELECTRONIC VOTING
 

Mr. Dick Roche T.D., Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local
Government, today (16 December) welcomed the publication by the
Commission on Electronic Voting of its full report on its work in
March/April 2004 on the secrecy, accuracy and testing of the
Nedap-Powervote system.

The Minister welcomed, in particular, the Commission conclusions
confirming that the system can accurately and consistently record voter
preferences and that the system accurately counted the votes recorded at
the pilot polls in 2002 (page 73). The report also confirms that, "it is
clear to the Commission that the chosen system is capable of gathering
and counting votes at elections with a high degree of accuracy, secrecy
and efficiency and this is evident from the results of the tests carried
out by the Commission as described in this report."(page 8). It further
notes that, "substantial portions of the Commission's work serve to
illustrate and reinforce [the] positive aspects" of the chosen system.
(page 9).

"We must not lose sight of the fact that the electronic system functions
correctly and accurately records and counts voter preferences," said the
Minister.

The report identifies clearly the many benefits of the electronic voting
and counting system "such as simpler voting procedures with less voter
error, more accurate counting and quicker results" compared to the
traditional paper-based, manual system. While it provides more technical
details on the Commission's work prior to the publication of its Interim
Report on 29 April 2004, the overall conclusion is as set out in that
report: in particular, the Commission draws attention to the
desirability of further testing and quality assurance and makes valuable
recommendations in this regard.

Minister Roche continued: "Looking ahead, the Commission has a mandate
to undertake a direct comparative assessment of the secrecy and accuracy
of the current manual voting procedures with the electronic voting and
counting system. This will help to focus the debate on the relative
merits of the two systems and should highlight the practical
improvements and efficiencies that electronic voting and counting brings
to the electoral process."

"This is a very detailed and technical report." said Minister
Roche. "The Commission has published much background research, not
all of which is endorsed or relied on in the development of its
recommendations. I intend to give full consideration to the views of the
Commission, and to draw on this analysis to inform and feed into
proposals I am developing for further assessment, testing and validation
of the chosen system, in parallel with the continuing work of the
Commission. I will be consulting with the Government early in the New
Year with a view to ensuring a satisfactory response on all of the
Commission's recommendations for action."

The Minister concluded: "I attach the highest importance to ensuring
voter confidence in electronic voting and counting, and regard assurance
on system security as critical to this objective. Our work in the period
ahead will be designed to achieve this, building on the public support
which was clearly evident in the 2002 pilots."

16 December 2004 

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Colm MacCárthaigh                        Public Key: colm+pgp at stdlib.net