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Hello All,<br>
<br>
From EFFI Finland:<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.effi.org/blog/2009-04-09-EVoting-Supreme-Admin-Court.html" eudora="autourl">http://www.effi.org/blog/2009-04-09-EVoting-Supreme-Admin-Court.html</a><br>
<br>
<b>Finnish e-voting results annulled, municipalities to hold new
elections<br>
Kirjoittaja: Nimetön, Huhtikuu 9, 2009 - 11:15.<br>
<br>
</b>The Supreme Administrative Court has ruled on the Finnish municipal
elections of 28 october 2008, in which an e-voting system was
piloted.<br>
<br>
In its decision, the court sided with the complainants, overturning an
earlier decision of Helsinki Administrative Court, and the decisions of
the municipal central elections committees to confirm the election
results. As a result, the three municipalities that took part in the
Finnish e-voting pilot must now hold new elections as soon as possible.
As the e-voting pilot has ended and the law authorising e-voting expired
in December 2008, the new elections will use a traditional paper ballot
system.<br>
<br>
The Supreme Administrative Court decision was based on two issues: first,
the voting instructions that the voters had received by mail were
incorrect, and second, the user interface of the e-voting terminals was
deemed to be flawed. The voting process utilised a smart card given to
each voter, and upon premature removal of the card, the voting terminals
gave no indication that the vote was not cast. As the system did not use
a voter-verified paper ballot, voters might have been left with an
impression that the vote had in fact been cast.<br>
<br>
It is notable that the Court did not address the general lawfulness of
e-voting. According to the Finnish law authorising e-voting, electronic
ballot boxes would need to be archived until the next election. These
electronic ballot boxes contain encrypted information on who voted and
how. This poses a risk to voter secrecy. However, the Court refused to
rule on whether this is unlawful, or whether the electronic ballot box
would need to be destroyed.<br>
<br>
In addition, the Court did not address the question whether an e-voting
system would need to be more transparent. A significant amount of system
design in the Finnish e-voting pilot were declared 'trade secrets', and
the system source code is closed. The Court decision still leaves an open
question whether paperless, 'black box' e-voting systems could be fielded
in the future.<br>
<br>
Further information:<br>
<br>
Electronic Frontier Finland (Effi) press release on the Court decision
(in Finnish):<br>
<a href="http://www.effi.org/julkaisut/tiedotteet/lehdistotiedote-2009-04-09.html" eudora="autourl">http://www.effi.org/julkaisut/tiedotteet/lehdistotiedote-2009-04-09.html</a><br>
<br>
Turre Legal, a law firm representing the complainants, comments:<br>
"E-voting appeal won: we have new elections!"<br>
<a href="http://www.turre.com/2009/04/e-voting-appeal-won/" eudora="autourl">http://www.turre.com/2009/04/e-voting-appeal-won/</a><br>
<br>
On the earlier Helsinki Administrative Court decision:<br>
"An error margin of 2% in municipal elections ruled acceptable in
Finland"<br>
<a href="http://www.effi.org/blog/2009-01-29-finland-evoting-ruling.html" eudora="autourl">http://www.effi.org/blog/2009-01-29-finland-evoting-ruling.html</a><br>
<br>
On the problems that were reported soon after the municipal
elections:<br>
"Finnish e-voting fiasco: votes lost"<br>
<a href="http://www.effi.org/blog/2008-10-28-finnish-evoting-votes-lost.html" eudora="autourl">http://www.effi.org/blog/2008-10-28-finnish-evoting-votes-lost.html</a><br>
<br>
Effi's e-voting 'shadow report' in English<br>
<a href="http://www.effi.org/blog/2008-09-01-evoting-report-in-english.html" eudora="autourl">http://www.effi.org/blog/2008-09-01-evoting-report-in-english.html</a><br>
<br>
"Finnish e-voting system must not stay a trade secret"<br>
<a href="http://www.effi.org/system/files?file=FinlandEVotingTradeSecret_20080211.txt" eudora="autourl">http://www.effi.org/system/files?file=FinlandEVotingTradeSecret_20080211.txt</a><br>
<br>
Council of Europe report on the Finnish e-voting pilot:<br>
<a href="https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1380337&Site=Congress" eudora="autourl">https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1380337&Site=Congress</a><br>
<br>
Supreme Administrative Court decision (in Finnish):<br>
<a href="http://www.kho.fi/paatokset/46372.htm" eudora="autourl">http://www.kho.fi/paatokset/46372.htm</a><br>
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