Dáil debates

Tuesday, 27 May 2008

3:00 pm

Photo of John GormleyJohn Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

Let us be very clear on this issue. Due to my involvement in very close election counts over the years, I have advocated the use of electronic voting. The most important thing is that we have public confidence in the system. The Deputy rightly points out that there have been reports from the Dutch Government. It recently issued a statement that it is currently not possible to guarantee that a newly developed electronic voting system would be secure from the emission of radio signals within the stringent threshold set and, therefore, decided to abandon all plans to use electronic voting systems at this time. The statement also refers to the significant investment that would be required to produce the new proposed electronic voting system, which the Dutch Cabinet has decided would add little value compared to voting with pencil and paper. The Dutch electorate will vote using pencil and paper in the foreseeable future.

However, the Deputy needs to be aware that the Nedap voting machines, which are the machines about which we are talking, have recently been recertified in Germany, with the Federal Interior Ministry concluding that the Nedap machines correspond fully with the requirements of German democratic elections. A statement from that Minister late last year found that the recommendations of the Dutch committee to no longer use the Nedap machines was not based on technical uncertainty and were not transferable to Germany. Parliamentary elections in Hessen went ahead with the use of the reapproved Nedap machines on 27 January 2008.

I am weighing up all these issues and the very latest data. I have a predisposition to caution but will weigh up all the options. If I find that the cost is prohibitive and, in particular, that we cannot get public confidence in the system, I will have to look at that very carefully and make a decision on that basis. That is the situation. I hope that when I reach a definitive decision, the Deputy will pat me on the back for doing so.

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