Most New Zealanders are unlikely to be able to vote online in general elections till at least 2023, under a proposal being considered by Justice Minister Annette King.
The draft longterm strategy for e-voting, put forward by the Chief Electoral Office, favours trials of phone and Internet voting in three elections starting in 2014, before a decision is made on whether tooffer that as an option to all voters.
Under its proposal, 2000 blind and disabled voters would be invited to vote by Internet and phone in the 2014 election. Up to 5000 people who qualify for special and advanced voting, such as New Zealanders living overseas, would join the trial in 2017, and the number of blind, disabled and advanced and special voters able to vote online would increase at each election. The Chief Electoral Office says it might be possible to bring the trials forward, to start in 2011, but this would put the delivery of "high quality election services this year at risk". The office concedes it risks being accused of dragging its heels by taking a "cautious approach". A growing number of people expect to be able to vote online and the introduction of e-voting may encourage more people to vote. But it says e-voting could make elections "susceptible to large scale electoral fraud" and there is a risk of denial-of-service hacking attacks disrupting elections. The office also warns that e-voting would prevent elections being readily monitored and checked by observers and the courts, and it might take time for the public to trust "the assessments of technical experts" that elections were fair. "Checking that each ballot box is empty to start with and allowing each voter to physically place their vote into a sealed box, are impossible with electronic votes."
A study ordered by the Electoral Commission last year found 46 per cent of respondents would prefer to vote online while 39 per cent would not. The study also found a quarter of New Zealanders were not confident that they could vote privately online without someone else unduly trying to influence their vote. To lessen this risk, people taking part in the electronic voting trials would need to vote in advance, during a 17-day window before polling day, the Chief Electoral Office has recommended. They could then override their "e-vote" by voting at a polling booth on the day of the election, if they chose. The office says a new series of offences might need to be created to deal with attempts to influence or disrupt electronic voting. Ms King declined to release the estimates of the likely cost of the e-voting trials.
