The legislative and regulatory framework can impact the implementation of new technology for election purposes in two ways. First, there may be government restrictions on how technology may be acquired. Second, the relevant election legislation or rules must permit the use of technology for electoral purposes, espcially in cases where the technology affects the substance of the electoral law.
Government regulation may impact the adoption of technology by:
- limiting what may be acquired by type or place of manufacture
- limiting what may be developed and maintained in-house and/or requiring that various functions must be outsourced
- requiring technology purchases to be vetted or approved by appropriate authorities external to the election management body (EMB)
- requiring EMBs to purchase hardware or software capable of integration across agencies
- setting minimum standards and quality controls
Consequently, the applicable regulatory environment may have a significant impact on the ability of an EMB (and other electoral participants) to implement technology of its choosing. Any restrictions on technology acquisition should be identified early on in the planning stages to ensure that only appropriate technology is considered and adopted.
As many technological items for electoral purposes are very election-specific, such as counting machines and electronic voting devices, general government standards or regulations on technology may not be considered applicable. Furthermore, an EMB may be able to argue that its technology is sufficiently different as to warrant exemption from such standards or regulations.
The legislative framework may also be relevant to the implementation of a new technology where that technology may change an aspect of the electoral process. For example, the introduction of electronic voting would in most cases require legislative amendment.
Before committing to a new technology, EMBs should ensure that any required legislative changes are in place at the appropriate time in the development schedule. Ideally, legislative changes should be in place before funds are committed to new technology.
Where election legislation or rules are amended to permit the use of technology for electoral purposes, the language used in the law or the rules can have a significant impact on the type of technology that can be used. Where flexibility in choice of technology is desired, the language used in the law or the rules needs to be sufficiently flexible (or technologically neutral) to allow an EMB some discretion in the type of technology chosen. Where there is a need to specify what type of technology must be used the language used must be similarly prescriptive.
