Published on the 05/09/2013 | Written by Newsdesk
Government aims to boost voter turnout with a digital solution…
The Minister for Local Government Chris Tremain has announced that a trial of online voting will take place in the 2016 local authority election and has asked the Department of Internal Affairs to put together a working party from across government and local authorities and with information technology experts to consider the options, costs and security issues involved in online voting.
“Voter turnout in local body elections is traditionally low and we need to look at other ways to encourage people to become involved in the democratic process. Online voting will be more convenient and appeal to young voters. It will also make it easier for people with disabilities to vote,” Tremain explained.
“Online transactions are the way of the future and the Government is committed to rolling out digital services for New Zealanders,” he added.
Internet commentator David Farrar, who has been pushing for a trial of online voting for local body elections since 2011, welcomed the announcement on his blog: “This is great news. Postal voting is a dying mechanism. More and more people have no relationship with a post office. […] For local body elections, an option of online voting is essential to complement postal voting.
“Online voting will hopefully both arrest the decline in turnout, but also help people make better informed votes. If voting online, it is much easier to go to candidate’s websites etc as you vote rather than just rely on the 200 word blurbs.”
Internet voting systems have gained popularity and have been used for government elections and referendums in the United Kingdom, Estonia and Switzerland as well as municipal elections in Canada and party primary elections in the United States and France. Nevertheless, robust regulations will need to be in place so voters can trust and have confidence in the system, hence the setting up of a working party to assess the security and technology used in public elections overseas.
Once the working party reports its findings, Tremain says the next step will be to formulate a plan to implement online voting in local body elections.
The Government plans to use its RealMe service, which allows New Zealanders to access services and prove their identity online, to enable online voting. New Zealanders who have a RealMe logon can now update their electoral enrolment details online and the Electoral Amendment Bill that was recently introduced will enable electors with a RealMe verified identity to enrol online.”
The Government says there is a high level of interest from the sector in online voting with organisations like the Porirua City Council and the Manawatu District Council volunteering to take part in the trial – a view point echoed by Farrar who said “the local body sector is keen and enthusiastic” about internet voting.
