Madam, - Why is the Government so intent on rushing into electronic voting when there are growing and genuine concerns about the security of the system and the lack of a verifiable audit trail?
Is it some sort of vanity effort to convince the world of our technological prowess?
I have just returned from California, where the newspapers were carrying a number of articles on the dangers of electronic voting. There have already been many examples of the technology failing in US elections,from machines crashing continually to discrepancies between the number who voted and the number of votes recorded. In the 2002 primary, machines in several Florida districts reported no votes for governor.
After warnings by computer scientists about the vulnerability of electronic voting, the secretary of state for California, Kevin Shelley, has introduced a directive that touch-screen voting systems must provide a paper print-out of each ballot cast. Until this print-out system can be put in place in 2006, each machine must store a digital record of each ballot cast, which can then be used for audit purposes.
While electronic voting may be the way of the future, it should certainly not be implemented here until a paper print-out of each ballot is available. The most basic feature of a democratic society is the ability of the electorate to have total confidence in the integrity of the ballot.
Let's not throw this away. - Yours, etc.,
DENIS COAKLEY, Holywell, Upper Kilmacud Road, Dublin 14.