Officials claim to have received no reports of any flaws in the online voting system. The number of ballots actually cast online was only about 9,500 - less than 1 per cent of all voters - but Tarvi Martens, a spokesman for the Estonian National Electorial Committee said that "everything has gone smoothly" adding that they hope to see participation rise to 20 per cent of votes being cast electronically.
Central to the scheme has been the full implementation of national identity cards equipped with a computer-readable microchip. With access to a computer, an electronic card reader, their ID card and its PIN number, citizens are able to cast their vote from anywhere in the world.
eVotes could only be cast during three days of advance voting for these elections. On election day itself people have to go to polling stations and fill in a paper ballot. However, there has been massive publicity about the new system, with Prime Minister Andrus Ansip using the system from his office on the first day of voting.
One of the key drivers for the Estonian government was that it saw eVoting as a high-profile way to enable citizens to become familiar with the ID card system. It hopes that this will lead to greater awareness of the other benefits that the cards can bring.
Quelle: eStrategies, Oct. 2005
