The Government should recognise the serious public concerns that exist in relation to electronic voting and postpone its introduction.
On his return from abroad, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Mr Cullen, yesterday rallied his Cabinet colleagues in support of the scheme, but there are elements of bluff and bluster in this approach. Mr Cullen's unwillingness to make further concessions is understandable, because of the effect it could have on his authority and reputation within Fianna Fáil. But public confidence in the voting system is of inestimable value when compared to the transient reputation of a minister and he should reconsider the position.
It may be that the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and Mr Cullen privately accept the desirability of having an audit trail, but are unwilling - at this stage - to bow to the united demands of Fine Gael, the Labour Party and the Green Party. Expressions of public concern by a number of Fianna Fáil and Progressive Democrats TDs would point in that direction. In the circumstances, it would be better for the Government to swallow hard and make the necessary changes itself, rather than depend on the uncertain advice of an expert committee that has yet to be established.
Last week, the Government responded to criticisms from politicians and computer experts by offering to establish an independent panel to verify the secrecy and accuracy of the method proposed. It undertook to ratify electronic voting by primary legislation; to provide tallies of different election counts and to allow for secrecy on abstentions or spoiled votes.
The technical changes proposed will make it extremely difficult for the supplier of the equipment to meet the proposed deadlines. And the Government's plan to use the system for the local and European Parliament elections in June must now be in doubt. In the same vein, it is difficult to see how an independent panel could be in a position to endorse such a system in the time available.
All of the political parties at Leinster House accept the introduction of electronic voting in principle. But they differ sharply on the need for a verifiable audit trail. The Government parties are prepared to trust in computer systems that have been ordered at a cost of about €38 million. The opposition parties and some computer experts are not. They insist on the need for a verifiable paper trail that can be used to check the accuracy of the machines. Such a change will cost money. But if public confidence in the voting system is to be protected, that cost must be met.