http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1174965887;fp;16;fpid;0
Victorian
government elects open source for e-democracy platform
Michael
Crawford
06/05/2005
14:33:38
An inquiry
into the potential of e-democracy in Victoria has recommended Internet
broadcasting for parliament, the use of videoconferencing for parliamentary
committees and the use of open source code for electronic voting kiosks.
The use of
electronic voting machines or kiosks is expected to make it easier for people
with limited vision or poor English skills to vote.
The
Electronic Democracy Subcommittee, chaired by Victorian MP Michael Leighton
said the use of open source is specifically recommended so voters can "be
satisfied with the integrity of the system".
"We have
recommended the pilot of electronic voting machines at large polling places
which will be stand-alone units with limited networking capabilities without
Internet connections," Leighton said.
"Diebold,
the company that provides electronic voting machines, has a contract that is
required to certify any new version of proprietary software; these are the
sorts of reasons why we should be open source.
"The
other principle we recommended for electronic voting is that there is a paper
trail -unlike what happened in the US presidential election. The machine would
drop a sheet of paper into a sealed box after the vote so if there was any
argument afterwards we have the capacity to verify the votes; this is an
important principle for public confidence in the integrity of the system."
Leighton
said the line for "electronic democracy" would be drawn at Internet
voting, and recommendations have been made that this not be considered.
The inquiry
also recommended developing training resources and places for public servants
to use technology to engage the general public, the possibility of using
RSS-styled news feeds from the Victorian government and state parliament, and
electronic voting in parliament.
Last week
the Victorian Electoral Commission called for tenders for electronic voting
machines.
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2005 IDG Communications. ABN 14 001 592 650. All rights reserved.
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