We know that Estonians were allowed to cast their votes using the internet in last year’s parliamentary elections wherein 3.5% people voted online.
Although a number of other countries have experimented with Internet voting — Switzerland has used them in its numerous referendums for instance — Estonia was the first to allow it in a nationwide election.
Now, officials are taking democracy into the next level.
Lawmakers approved a measure Thursday allowing citizens to vote by mobile phone in the next parliamentary elections in 2011.
While some think mobile voting will create some problems, it seems that this is not going to be the case.
“The system that allows people to take part in elections using their mobile phones is completely safe,” Liia Hanni, programme director at the Estonian e-Governance Academy Foundation, told AFP.
Under the plan, m-voters will only be allowed to use telephones provided with certified SIM cards which will enable the person’s identity to be verified before they can access a confidential electronic voting system similar to that used for e-voting.
Sounds like a great idea. Let’s just hope that no IT attack will ever happen to that beautiful Baltic State.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Sherwin
Quelle/Source: Daily Contributor, 13.12.2008