Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 13 Nov 2003

Vol. 574 No. 3

Written Answers. - Electronic Voting.

Bernard J. Durkan

Ceist:

255 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment Heritage and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 190 of 6 November 2003, the reason the Government felt it was necessary to modernise the voting system when it has been clearly demonstrated that electronic voting is highly inaccurate and unreliable and that the only true and democratic voting record is the actual ballot paper on which the voter has manually recorded their choice as has been demonstrated whenever the UN has supervised elections in developing countries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26961/03]

Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Mr. Cullen)

The basis for introducing the present system of electronic voting is set out in reply to Question No. 190 of 6 November 2003. Many different types of equipment are used for electronic voting and counting in different countries. The system chosen for use in this country has been used satisfactorily in the Netherlands for over ten years and for some years in some cities in Germany. I am not aware of any authoritative report to substantiate the generalised allegation made in the question nor do I accept the thesis that manual voting is more secure or efficient than electronic systems.