The independent commission that yesterday forced the Government to abandon electronic voting in June's European and local elections believes paper records will be needed if voters are ever to accept the system.
In a brief report yesterday, the Commission on Electronic Voting found that the security of the voting system could not be guaranteed in time for the elections to be held.
However, The Irish Times understands that the commission believes that voting paper records of some kind will be needed to ensure public confidence, given "the damage" that has been caused.
The Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, again ruled out such paper records yesterday. "No such system has been developed anywhere. There is a proposal for one in California in 2005, but nothing has been developed."
Faced with sustained accusations of arrogance and incompetence, the Minister yesterday rejected Opposition resignation calls, though he has not yet received the public backing of the Taoiseach.
The commission, headed by High Court judge, Mr Justice Matthew P. Smith, scrapped plans to produce a much more detailed report following serious tensions with the manufacturers, Nedap/Powervote.
The commission feared that its original report could leave it open to a defamation charge from the company, who sought a €200 million indemnity from the State before it would supply secret computer records.
The Minister for the Environment had agreed to offer the indemnity, but the Houses of the Oireachtas could not pass legislation in time for the commission's publication timetable.
The local government and European Parliament elections on June 11th will now take place entirely under the old system using paper ballots and manual counting.
The abandonment of the new system, which has cost €50 million, is a deep embarrassment for the Government, which insisted for months that its reliability was beyond question. An initial contingency plan to carry out more pilot testing in June was scrapped quickly yesterday morning when the extent of the commission's concerns became clear.
The wide-ranging nature of the commission's concerns prompted speculation that the Government would find it difficult to rebuild confidence in time for the 2006/2007 General Election.
Mr Cullen acknowledged this: "If we can't find a methodology of ensuring there is absolute public confidence in this, then you are not going to be able to deliver it." However despite deep irritation among other Ministers about what some Government sources described as a "fiasco", Mr Cullen insisted Cabinet colleagues remained committed.
The commission said it could verify neither the system's accuracy nor the secrecy, and found that some parts of it had been tested either inadequately or not at all.
The software to be used on June 11th was not even finalised, so "it is impossible for anyone to certify its accuracy", while a software error had been found that could have led to mistakes in later counts.
They also said they had concerns over the secrecy of the ballot, the possibility of people hacking into the system, and voter intimidation.
Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny said of Mr Cullen: "His incompetence has only been exceeded by his arrogance."