Thanks to
the technological advances developed at the end of the last century, it is
possible to implement advanced technology in elections and that interest is
growing. The everyday impact of
technology on election management is very significant and growing. This technology can be aimed at assisting document creation, processing and management,
new and more powerful election management information systems, creating and
managing voter registers, vote casting, vote counting, expanded public access to information such as filings
and reports, powerful tools to make boundary redistribution more effective and efficient
or new and expanded ways to share information among practitioners, to name a
few.
In this
regard, regulation has lagged behind technological developments. Appropriate
regulation should allow the wise implementation of technology in electoral
processes ranging from database systems for voter registration, electronic
voting, bio-identification systems, scanning and geographic information
systems. However, nothing captures the potential and challenges of the
implementation of technology in elections more so than electronic voting and
vote counting and while it is far beyond the scope of this section to examine
all facets of this debate, it does serve as a good example of the relationship
between technology and the legal framework.
On the one hand, electronic voting and counting
has the potential to increase speed and voter access, while potentially
reducing human error and cost. There is also the matter of public expectations
in an increasingly technological savvy world.
The strongest advocates argue that new technologies may even increase
voter participation. However, on the other
hand, especially in an uncontrolled environment outside a voting location, this
innovation faces potential risks such as the loss of transparency, observation
and audit, fraud and manipulation, vote selling, intimidation and loss of secrecy. Of course, there is much that can be done to
manage risk and indeed numerous jurisdictions now employ electronic voting
technologies including, direct recording electronic (DRE) equipment,
ballot-scanning devices, the Internet and mobile telephone networks.[i] However, it is also reasonable to acknowledge
that, “such technologies also pose challenges to the transparency and
accountability of an election process, to the secrecy of the vote and may
influence perceptions about the security of the vote and have a negative impact
on voter confidence.”[ii]
However, in the matter of something as important
as elections, what is not up for debate is that, “the standards for assessing elections using
traditional ballot papers apply equally to e-voting. Thus, all eligible voters
should have the right to vote, the secrecy of the ballot should be guaranteed,
and results tallied by e-voting equipment should accurately reflect voter
intention.”[iii] The use of technology should not jeopardize the citizens' trust in elections.
Positive regulation should encourage the use of
technology which in most cases implies cost reduction. However, the use of
technology should not jeopardize the security of elections and citizens’ trust
in elections given the vulnerability especially of certain electronic systems. The
secrecy and freedom of the vote must be ensured as paramount. For
these reasons, while the legal framework needs to be flexible enough to make
best use of available technology, where the application of such technologies
may impact the fundamental principles of elections, “Such wide flexibility
might be regulated by requiring that certain types of approval be obtained
before adopting them.”[iv] At the very least, this would allow careful
consideration, debate and purposeful decision making going forward.
[iii] European Commission, Handbook for European Union Election
Observation, 85.
[iv] International IDEA, International Electoral Standards, 72.
