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What do we want from e-Voting?

Stuart AndersonSchool of Informatics

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Properties like …

Accuracy: Do we choose individual criteria or more socialised criteria?

Confidentiality: we all know the current system isn’t – how hard should it be to discover how an individual (or group) voted?

Availability: given US experience it seems like “rationing” of timeslots could be a real issue.

From a dependability perspective the scope of the system we consider is critical and getting requirements right at that level:– We want e-voting to provide part of the mechanism to

implement democracy.– Democracy: "[T]he democratic method is that institutional

arrangement for arriving at political decisions in which individuals acquire the power to decide by means of a competitive struggle for the people's vote." Schumpeter (1942)

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Democracy is in crisis … (perhaps)

The Power Enquiry, published today:– http://www.powerinquiry.org/– How can democracy survive when we feel politicians

don’t listen?– How can politics be revived when fewer and fewer of us

support political parties?– How can voting be encouraged if millions see elections

as a charade? Elections Minister Harriet Harman will introduce measures

to combat voting fraud ahead of local elections next May. ballot papers with security marks and barcodes to enable

quick security checks. In 2004 the electoral commissioner said postal voting was

"wide open to fraud". Six Labour councillors in Birmingham stepped down after

Sir Richard Mawrey found evidence of postal ballot abuse that he said would disgrace a "banana republic".

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Social hazards of e-voting

Schumpeter again: … by means of a competitive struggle for the people's vote.

It needs to be a struggle, so e-voting shouldn’t be too easy.

Emphasis is often on issues like:– Large scale fraud of ballot papers– Coercion at the point of voting– Rationing access to voting: registration, supply of machines,

bandwidth etc. Maybe a bigger hazard is making it easy enough for

unengaged people to vote.

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The case of Sweden

Traditionally high level of voter participation pre 1998, around 85%, 1998 – 77% and dropping.

Ny Demokrati, or New Democracy (abbreviated Nyd), was a Swedish right-wing political party represented in the Riksdag between 1991 and 1994.

Campaigned for election to the national parliament on an agenda of populism, xenophobia, racism and neoliberal economic policy.

Opinion polls showed the party getting more than 10 % support.

On the election day, it received 6 % of the national vote. Posed a serious problem in a PR environment. Many in Sweden felt it presaged growing youth disillusionment

with democracy. Swedes can vote very easily – long voting period, voting at the

post office, …

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Summary

Too many politicians see easing the voting process as a way of “fixing” democracy.

E-voting is seen as an essential tool Many potentially ignored properties of e-voting system

may be essential if we are to maintain some kind of stability in the competitive struggle for votes.