Most election management bodies (EMBs) need to share data stored in computers within their own administration and with outside organisations and the public. Computer networks enable two or more computers to communicate and share data and commands.
These networks, described below, may be set up by connecting computers through cables, modems, radio waves or a combination of these.
- A local area network (LAN) covers a local area, like an office or a small group of buildings.
- A metropolitan area network (MAN) usually spans a city or a large area like a university campus. A MAN typically uses wireless infrastructure or optical fibre connections to link their sites.
- A wide area network (WAN) covers a wide geographical area, involving a vast array of computers and LANs. The best example of a WAN is the Internet.
Local area network
A LAN can connect computers, workstations and other devices such as printers and scanners within a small geographic area such as an office or office building through a common communications line or wireless link. Although there are several ways to set up a LAN, typically, each computer corresponds to a node in a LAN which can execute programs and share the resources of a single computer processor or server. This means that several users can share devices as well as data located away from them. Users can also use the LAN to communicate with each other, by sending email or engaging in chat sessions.
LANs are capable of transmitting data at fast rates and may serve as few as two or three users or as many as thousands of users. However, the geographic distance of a LAN is restricted and there is a limit to the number of computers that can be attached to a single LAN.
Besides specialized hardware, a LAN requires special operating system software to allow the various devices connected to the LAN to communicate with each other and to ensure the security of the LAN resources and to control the users’ access rights to those resources.
In addition to the benefits derived from being able to share data and programs, LANs allows systems administrators to impose standards on computer hardware, software and users procedures. Users may be required to store data on the central file server rather than their local hard drives, thereby ensuring that the organizations’ data can be centrally managed and backed up and that the data is available to all authorised staff on the LAN.
Wide area networks
Several LANs can be connected to create a wide area network (WAN). WANs can allow geographically dispersed computers to communicate with each other and to share data. For example, an EMB with several different offices, each with its own LAN, can have an EMB-wide WAN, allowing data to be shared across the organisation.
WANs can be used to link computers with access to appropriate telecommunications from anywhere in the world. WANs can be connected by cables or optical fibres, or by microwave links or radio links, using ground-based or satellite transmitters. These links can be privately owned, but they are often part of the public telecommunications infrastructure.
Many WANs are organisation-specific, connecting all of an organisation’s employees to one network regardless of their physical locations. Many users do not see a distinction between their LAN and their WAN.
The Internet
The largest WAN is the Internet, which is a collection of networks linking millions of computer users around the world. It is made up of thousands of smaller commercial, academic, domestic and government networks. It carries various information and services, such as electronic mail, file sharing and the World Wide Web.
Apart from the complex physical connections that make up its infrastructure, the Internet is held together by multilateral agreements and by technical specifications or protocols that describe how to exchange data over the network. Any communications network, wired or wireless, that can carry two-way digital data can carry Internet traffic.
Millions of people worldwide have easy, instant access to a vast and diverse amount of online information through keyword-driven Internet research using search engines like Google and Yahoo.
Specific networks may use security, authentication and encryption technologies which limit the access to some or all of their information by the general public while encouraging the use of new ways of home-working, collaboration and information sharing among its authorized users.
The Internet has already proven to be a useful way for EMBs to communicate information to voters in countries where access to the Internet is widely available. Some countries are also starting to use the Internet to allow voters to cast their votes in referendums as well as national, regional and local elections.
Intranets
An intranet is a LAN or even a WAN that is set up like the Internet, but used internally in an organisation to facilitate communication and access to information restricted to its staff and authorised users.
Internet technologies are also used to provide new interfaces to corporate management information systems, such as human resources management systems, procurement and financial systems.
Several EMBs have already set up intranets containing an in-house website that is accessible only to EMB staff for administration and training purposes.
These intranets may not be connected to the Internet itself, but if they are, there is probably firewall software that acts as a gateway through which all access to the organisation’s data is filtered and can be monitored by the organisation's security department. Where external e-mail access is provided, known sources of spam and specific types of e-mail attachment can be blocked by the organisation. It should also be noted that e-mails sent and received this way can be required to be produced by the organisation in the event of legal action against it by a third party.
Extranets
Like an intranet, an extranet is a private computer network that uses Internet technology and the public telecommunication system to securely share part of its business information or operations with suppliers, vendors, partners, customers, or other businesses. Access by the general public is not authorized.
This means that an extranet requires security and privacy. These can include firewalls server management, use of digital certificates and message encryption.
