By Kable, 6 July 2005 09:10
NEWS Geoff Hoon, the leader of the House of Commons, has called for "further examination" of e-voting along with proposals for compulsory voting in order to reverse the decline in turnout at elections.
Speaking at an Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) event on 4 July, 2005, Hoon highlighted plans to set up an online electoral register, electronic counting systems, and internet and text message voting.
"Millions vote using text messages in the reality TV shows that sometimes seem to dominate our television screens. Would it really be such a huge step to extend this option to voting in general elections?" he said.
He focused on the work done in Swindon during 2003 to allow polling via mobile e-voting kiosks in residential care facilities and community centres. Hoon said the pilot increased turnout but admitted figures were only up to 30 per cent.
"I know that many have fears about the security of internet voting. The threats from computer hackers in the online banking industry are well documented. There are also concerns about the digital divide. Not everyone has access to a computer or a mobile telephone. But electronic voting is an issue that demands further examination," he told the IPPR.
Electronic voting pilots were held across local authorities until 2003 but were put on hold over the last two years as they were thought to be too complex for European and general elections.
Hoon also said that international experience had shown that the most effective way to increase electoral turnout was to make voting compulsory. He said that the attendance at the last general election, 61.5 per cent, was below the level of regular 75 per cent-plus turnouts that had been the norm since 1945.
He said that, in contrast, in countries such as Australia, where voting was compulsory, turnout could exceed 90 per cent. He blamed a sense of "alienation" from the political system among people who felt that voting made no difference.
However, chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society, Ken Ritchie, said it would be "pointless" to make voting compulsory under the current system: "At the last election at least two-thirds of constituencies were a foregone conclusion. At the moment so many votes simply do not count. How are you going to sell this to the public unless you change the voting system?"
Comments
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1. elliot a
e voting, great idea, but once the politicians realise we can vote on everything and they become redundant it will be buried.
2. Richard A.
Hoon is a Buffon.
Making it easier for slack-jawed yoofs to TXT their vote will not lead to universal enfranchisement for the politically unispired masses.
What a short-sighted popularist he reveals himself to be. If people care about voting and are physically able to do so, they will get to a polling station and place their X where it counts.
Texting a vote to Big Brother is not of the same gravity as deciding who will run the country for the next few years. National Elections must not be reduced to the status of a frivolous gameshow - or we shall get the government we deserve.
[For those of you still at university or otherwise without a life, it is politics that matters in the long run, not whether Makosi stays in the house or not.]
Only one thing might make me change my mind: weekly TXT votes on whether certain politicians stay in the House or not.
Can you imagine Anthony Blair MP doing the walk of shame as Davina tells him "I think it was your warmongering that turned the viewers against you... that and falsely accusing Saddam of hiding WMDs in the sandpit"?
"...But enough of that. Lets have a look at some of your best moments." Accompanied, perhaps, by Elton John's "Sorry (seems to be the hardest word)".
3. Richard A.
Hoon is a Buffon.
Making it easier for slack-jawed yoofs to TXT their vote will not lead to universal enfranchisement for the politically unispired masses.
What a short-sighted popularist he reveals himself to be. If people care about voting and are physically able to do so, they will get to a polling station and place their X where it counts.
Texting a vote to Big Brother is not of the same gravity as deciding who will run the country for the next few years. National Elections must not be reduced to the status of a frivolous gameshow - or we shall get the government we deserve.
[For those of you still at university or otherwise without a life, it is politics that matters in the long run, not whether Makosi stays in the house or not.]
Only one thing might make me change my mind: weekly TXT votes on whether certain politicians stay in the House or not.
Can you imagine Anthony Blair MP doing the walk of shame as Davina tells him "I think it was your warmongering that turned the viewers against you... that and falsely accusing Saddam of hiding WMDs in the sandpit"?
"...But enough of that. Lets have a look at some of your best moments." Accompanied, perhaps, by Elton John's "Sorry (seems to be the hardest word)".
4. Karen Challinor
I think the key phrase there was "compulsory voting" and not e-voting.
Compulsory voting will certainly turn the increasing voter apathy around, they'll vote for anyone who will get rid of it, in fact I could stand on that single issue and be elected, resign immediately after it's done and be home in time for lunch.
Seems to me that if we the people don't do what they the government want the response is to come up with some half baked initiative that doesn't address the issues and when that fails get out the big stick.
When will politicians learn that they work for us and not the other way around.
Try listening to the people instead of treating them as a liability
5. Michael Webb
As far as I am concerned it is the lack of credibility of politicians that causes voter apathy. Why vote for a government that promises reform and then claims that the electorate misunderstood their promises when the party in power does exactly as they please. Hoon must think we are all stupid. E voting will not change the way politicians behave.
6. Peter Chen
British residents should be cautious about the role that compulsory voting (in Australia it is compulsory to maintain yourslef on the electoral register, and turn out to the polls, but does not require a valid vote be cast) has in maintaining and strengthening democracy. While voter turnout in Australia is very high (over 90%), this should not be equated with (a) a high level of political engagement by the community or (b) genuine electoral choice.
Most jurisdictions in Australia see high levels of voter disengagement from party politics (party membership in Australia is low and continues to decline) and very low regards for political actors. In addition, compulsory voting is commonly paired in Australia with compulsory preferential allocation, which tends to entrench and support our two party (Labor versus Coalition) tendencies. If Australia elected to remove the requirement to vote (as has been suggested by the current Prime Minister) it is likely that electoral turnout would quickly decline to the levels seen in Canada (circa 70%) and the UK, starting with younger voters, migrants, and those without long-term perminant addresses.
While e-voting may have some impacts, these are likely to be marginal (convenience benefits, younger voters). This has been demonstrated in the UK local government pilots to date.