Bird’s eye view of E-voting in Europe

4th Annual meeting of election management bodiesStakeholder engagement and effective communication

Tbilisi, Georgia24 – 26 February, 2014

Bird’s eye view on E-voting in Europe

Where we are today and where we are heading?

Matthijs Schippers

VP Sales Western / Northern Europe

Smartmatic International, Amsterdam

Electronic voting methods

Electronic voting

Polling station

E-counting

E-voting

Remote voting

Internet voting

Tele voting

E-counting implementations

Russia

2001: Pilots with ballot scanning

2004: BPC’s certified and used in 9,112 precincts in 32 subjects of the Russian federation

2010: BPC’s used in 798 precincts in 10 subjects of the Russian federation

E-counting implementations

United Kingdom

2000: Precinct scanning for some districts for London Assembly and Mayoral elections

2004: Precinct scanning for some districts for London Assembly and Mayoral elections

2008: Central scanning for Greater London Assembly and Mayoral elections

2012: Central scanning for Greater London Assembly and Mayoral elections

E-counting implementations

Scotland

2007: Nation wide use of regional e-counting centers for National parliament and local elections

2012: 31 regional e-counting centers for National parliament and local elections with new scanning systems

E-counting implementations

Norway

2011: Central ballot scan center for local election Oslo

E-counting implementations

Latvia

2011: E-counting for Parliamentary elections in 31% of all polling stations

E-voting implementations

The Netherlands

1967: First implementation of mechanical voting machines

1978: First implementation of electro-mechanical voting machines

1992: First implementation of electronic voting machines (DRE’s)

2007: 95% of all municipalities vote with DRE’s

E-voting implementations

Belgium

1992: First pilots in two municipalities

1994: First implementation of voting PC’s with monochrome CRT displays, light pen and magnetic swipe ballot tickets

2010: 2 certified types voting PC’s in use by 44% of all voters

E-voting implementations

Germany

1975: First implementation of mechanical voting machines

1999: First implementation of electronic voting machines

2008: 5 states vote with 2 types of DRE’s

E-voting implementations

Ireland

2001: First use in 1 county for the Nice referendum

2002: 1000 DRE’s used in 3 counties for General elections

2004: Central procurement of DRE’s for nation wide roll out

E-voting implementations

France

2001: First pilots with DRE’s

2004: First implementation of 3 types of DRE’s for European elections

2007: 80 municipalities use DRE’s for Presidential and national parliamentary elections

E-voting implementations

Russia

2005: First pilot with EVC’s

2007: First implementation of EVC’s in 21 precincts in 5 regions for parliamentary and presidential elections

2011: Use of EVC’s in 10 precincts in 1 Russian republic

E-voting pilots

United Kingdom2002: Pilots in Bolton,

Stratford upon Avon, Chester, Liverpool

Finland

2008: Pilots in 13 municipalities for local elections

Italy

2006: Pilots in Cremona

2008: Pilots in Trentino

Where are we today?

Ireland: Abandoned E-voting

The Netherlands: Abandoned E-voting

Germany: Abandoned E-voting

France: Moratorium for new municipalities

Finland : Discontinued E-voting pilots

United Kingdom: Discontinued E-voting pilots

Belgium: Renewed 70% & expanded 10%

Most important historical E-voting objectives

The original goals for E-voting:

Fast results without counting errors;

Modern and high tech image;

Easier to find poll workers;

Elimination of spoiled votes and arbitrary ballot interpretation.

Technocratic implementation strategy

Implementation method

Legal frameworkCertification framework

System design & testing

Roll out

Stakeholder engagement and effective communication

Quo vadis?

Does E-voting in Europe have a future? YES

Intrinsic weaknesses of traditional voting have not disappeared:

Many spoiled ballots

Time consuming counting

Many counting errors

Considerable operational efforts

No accessibility for voters with special needs

Quo vadis?

Does E-voting in Europe have a future? YES

Initial signs of proof:

• Belgium

• The Netherlands

In conclusion

Stakeholder engagement and effective communication are crucial to

successful E-voting implementations

After all:

Democratic elected governments are of the people, by the people and for

the people