The Government will today name the members of a special inquiry to investigate electronic voting, which will be told to issue findings by early May, less than five weeks before polling day.
However, the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, has decided to exclude the Ombudsman, Ms Emily O'Reilly, who last week supported calls from those who believe that a paper record must be kept of each vote.
The group, which will include the head of the Standards in Public Office Commission, Mr Justice Matthew P. Smith, will also include two technical experts, sources indicated last night. It is also expected to include the Clerk of the Dáil, Mr Kieran Coughlan, and the Clerk of the Seanad, Ms Deirdre Lane, who are also members of the Standards in Public Office Commission and the Referendum Commission.
The Government has had some difficulty finding technical experts willing to serve, since some were reluctant to stake their reputations on equipment that they had not designed.
The final text of legislation to underpin the use of electronic voting will not be ready until next week, it appears: "It is being worked on with all urgency," a Department of the Environment spokesman said.
Meanwhile, 675 million voters in India will use electronic voting machines to cast their ballots in three weeks of national elections there running from late April until the middle of May.
The Indian Electoral Commission will use one million voting machines designed and manufactured by two state-run companies, Bharat Electronics Ltd and the Electronics Corporation of India. The two companies, say their spokesmen, are hoping for significant international sales after the elections in Continental European countries and to a number of state governments in the United States.
The system, which has already been deemed to be tamper-proof by an Indian judge, has to be simple enough for millions of illiterate Indians living in remote villages to use, who up to now have voted by thumbprint.The Indian machines are different from the ones to be used in Ireland.
Meanwhile, the group opposing the use of electronic voting in the Republic, Irish Citizens for Trustworthy e-voting, will continue its campaign today with a press briefing.