Fine Gael, Labour and the Green Party have jointly proposed a Dáil motion to defer the introduction of electronic voting until an independent electoral commission has been set up to allay public concern over the proposed new system.
The motion, which will be debated in Fine Gael's Private Members' time next Tuesday and Wednesday, criticises the Government for not consulting with the other parties in the Dáil on the matter. The Government has announced its intention to introduce electronic voting through- out the State for June's local and European elections.
However, the Opposition wants it to establish an independent electoral commission "to oversee the implementation of electronic voting in a fair and transparent manner which has the trust of all political parties and the general public". The motion calls for the provision of "a voter-verified paper audit trail as part of the electronic voting process, in order to be able to confirm the accuracy required of the counting system". The current proposal allows for no back-up record of votes cast to be kept on paper.
In a joint statement, the three party leaders, Mr Enda Kenny, Mr Pat Rabbitte and Mr Trevor Sargent, said there was also "considerable legal uncertainty regarding the legislative basis for the implementation of electronic voting in the local and European elections in June of this year".
Analysis - Opinion: page 13