Vol. 501 No. 4
15 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the plans, if any, he has to introduce electronic vote counting in elections; the costs of introducing this system for local, general and European elections; if he envisages greater participation in elections as a result of this change; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6200/99]
57 Mrs. B. Moynihan-Cronin asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the proposals, if any, he has to introduce electronic voting on an experimental basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6171/99]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 15 and 57 together.
The Local Elections (Disclosure of Donations and Expenditure) Bill 1999 which was circulated last week makes provision for research into the feasibility of introducing electronic methods of recording and counting votes using counted ballot papers from the 1999 European Parliament and local elections. At present, counted ballot papers can only be inspected by obtaining a High Court order made when the court is hearing a petition questioning an election and in the normal course of events, counted papers are destroyed six months after the election. Section 24 of the Bill will not introduce electronic voting and counting at elections; separate legislation would be required to do this.
There are no costs available at this early stage nor is it possible to indicate, in advance of the planned research being undertaken, when such a system could be introduced or what its likely impact would be. The rules for counting votes in a PR-STV electoral system are complex and software development is unlikely to be straightforward. Extensive testing of both the equipment and software will be necessary before a pilot project could be recommended.
