Electronic Voting - Away with the ballot box Soon, you will be able to vote hundreds of kilometers from home...and without special authorization or tedious formalities. Even if you're away on vacation in the mountains or on a business trip... with your electronic voting card in hand, you can easily perform your civic duties. What do we ask of you?: just take a few steps to the nearest voting machine. Is it magic? Not entirely... With E-Poll, a project developed by France Telecom Research & Development in partnership with several European organizations, this seemingly fictitious story is already a reality. For the 2002 presidential and legislative elections, 1500 French voters inaugurated the electronic vote. This experiment was the first step in perfecting a voting tool that will revolutionize the way Europeans vote. What? How? When? No matter where you are on election day, you will be able to vote in the polling district of your choice. No more need for special authorization or complex formalities in order to vote by mail...the electronic voting card is like a magic wand when it comes to voting duties. Eliminating geography from election day difficulties, the electronic vote is a solution for increasing voter participation. Every voter has an electronic voting card, identifiable by a digital fingerprint. The system of identification is similar to that of a bank card: the data relating to the user -or the fingerprint- are contained in the card and not in the network. The electronic card is provided by municipal authorities, after registering the digital fingerprint at city hall, and is delivered as a once off with no expiry date . The voter remains registered in the community of residence. With E-Poll, a wide-scale European project developed by France Telecom and diverse partners, (Italians in particular), the electronic voting card should eventually replace the traditional paper voting card. Back to top The system of electronic voting complies with the founding principles of democratic voting and conforms to electoral codes and regulations: president, assessors, respect of confidentiality. Like traditional voting, the procedure has two distinct steps: identification and then secret voting in a voting booth. The voter is greeted by a supervisor, identified by the electronic card and digital fingerprint, and confirmed by an initial machine: the electronic register replaces the traditional paper register. This procedure of identification allows authorities to verify that the individual is indeed eligible to vote. The voter then enters a voting booth and casts a vote with a second machine: on a touch-sensitive screen on which candidates are displayed, the voter first chooses a candidate, then validates the selection, and then confirms the vote with the electronic voting card. Mission accomplished! Confidentiality is a absolute. It is guaranteed by the absence of a connection between the register and the voting machine, which are managed by two different systems. By putting all voting polls on one network, counting and recording votes occurs only once. Long and tedious counting by hand is relegated to the past. Levels of participation are available in real time. The final vote count is established immediately, therefore the results can be announced as soon as polls close. The reliability of the system eliminates debates over human error. Back to top Starting now, some 1500 French voters, in Mérignac et Vandoeuvre lès Nancy, have been invited to experiment with the electronic vote during the presidential and legislative elections. With the long term objective of installing the system throughout Europe, this pilot operation will help determine the impact of electronic voting on voter behavior as well as to fine tune the evolution and security of the network. Apart from the adjustments deemed necessary following the experimental phase, setting up the system requires a drastic change to electoral codes. In France, the electronic vote as planned, only involves localities with a population greater than 3,500. The signature of the voter, the place of vote, and counting methods are all elements that will require changes to regulatory texts-a reform, which soaks up some legislative power, rests in the hands of political volunteers. It is for these reasons that the finalization of this project will require some time. In parallel, experience in neighboring countries shows increasing interest in electronic voting. European countries like Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Poland have already completed some testing. In Italy, a partner country on the France Telecom R&D project, a test was completed during a referendum relating to the autonomy of Italian regions: 94% of concerned voters declared in favor of adoption of electronic voting. More than 300 million European voters could be involved by 2005. Electronic voting is just around the corner. Given its practical qualities, electronic voting will not only encourage voter participation, but also nurture democratic expression. It will facilitate ballot organization and perhaps favor the emergence of local referendums. And tomorrow, will we vote from home? Not very likely. This is merely a Utopian dream because no country has the possibility to master such a system. Complete reliability would require uniform material to be used by every voter. For now, the future of voting lies in electronic voting terminals and cards. Back to top