Madam, - We are having thrust upon us a radical change in the most fundamental element of democratic government - our voting procedure - quite without consultation or formal parliamentary investigation.
The proposed process is, and has been, questioned and condemned by a wide international spectrum of electronic voting expertise as being inadequately tested, incapable of audit, open to bias and generally unverifiable. It is also highly expensive and, in common with all sophisticated computer systems, delicate and prone to crashes and other electronic mishaps.
All this, we are told, is to replace and improve on a system that is robust, open, public and publicly verifiable, tested, true and trusted - if a trifle cumbersome and not as rapid as that which might be delivered by electronic means - and which has been held in affection by the Irish electorate from the inception of the State.
And this quantum change to our democratic procedure is to be brought about by a governing party with an unparalleled record in the recent past of corruption and illicit dealings by some of its most senior members - activities which are still being investigated by our courts and tribunal, and which have dragged the name and honour of Irish parliamentary institutions into the mud, and destroyed what trust there was in our democratic processes.
To paraphrase C.J. Haughey, this seems remarkably like the imposition of an Irish problem on an Irish solution. - Yours, etc.,
DAVID GRANT,
Mount Pleasant,
Waterford.
Madam, - It is entirely wrong to claim that the €40 million being spent on the introduction of electronic voting is a waste of money, as some commentators have suggested. Considerable money is spent at each election on the lengthy hand-counting of votes, often subject to protracted recounts. Electronic voting will eliminate the need for this and will easily pay for itself within a few elections.
Much attention has also been focused on the right of voters to spoil their ballots. In fact the vast majority of spoilt ballots relate to unclear instructions - e.g. two candidates being marked with a No. 1 vote in error. By preventing such occurrences the new system will greatly help voters to ensure their votes are recorded in the manner they intend.
In addition, electronic voting will remove the anomaly in the current system whereby surpluses are transferred by reference to the votes a candidate received to put them over the quota rather than to their entire bundle of votes. This will strengthen our system of proportional representation and produce more accurate results.
Not a single objection was raised by any voter in Meath, Dublin North and Dublin West when the system was successfully piloted in those constituencies at the last general election.
It seems as if the Opposition parties are intent on spreading maximum confusion to undermine a system that will strengthen our democracy as well as being cost-effective. - Yours, etc.,
KEVIN BARRETT,
St James's Wood,
Dublin 8.