Give people the e-vote

Earlier this month I had my first experience of e-voting; to elect a Guernsey member to the board of directors of the Channel Islands Co-operative Society. As a registered member of the Co-op I received an email with my unique security code which, together with my share number, enabled me to access the online voting portal. Five Guernsey candidates are listed, each with their photo, an ‘info’ button to read their election statement, and a box with a cross to click after making my choice (only one vote was allowed in that election). At the bottom of the page you either ‘confirm’ your selection or ‘cancel’ to return to the list. When you are happy with your selection, you then click ‘submit vote’. UK Engage is the Co-op appointed independent administrator of this online voting process, and their contact (telephone and email) appears on this voting portal, so any issue can be discussed directly with UK Engage. All in all, this was my best voting experience ever, quick and convenient.

When the new IWV system was chosen in last October’s referendum, we knew that e-voting had to be adopted to ensure a smooth 2020 election, and to achieve a greater public participation in next year’s election. IT companies offered their e-voting software design services and SAAC was also in contact with UK Engage, but to date, six months after the referendum, no progress has been made as SAAC did not want to engage with the private sector. As Opinion stated on 8 April 2019, technology has never been the States’ strong suit, and we still have an analogue States in a digital world. So, are the States ready to admit that e-voting for June 2020 is achievable with assistance from the IT private sector?

PHIL DUPRE

ADDRESS WITHHELD.