The proposed bill, which would amend the Local Elections Act in order to allow for the use of Internet voting in the local elections of October 2005, was approved by a very narrow margin during its third reading, with only 52 of the 101 representatives voting in favour. According to press reports, the bill is now likely to be referred to the Constitutional Court by Estonian President Arnold Ruutel. Indeed, Mr Ruutel has refused to sign the bill twice since May 2005, arguing that one of the provisions of the law – which would allow voters to change their vote several times – violates the principle of “uniformity” as voters using paper ballots cannot change their choice. Because this principle is enshrined in the Estonian Constitution, the President believes the proposed legislation cannot be passed in its present form. In addition, Mr Ruutel has also indicated that additional work was needed in the field of voter identification and authentication in order to prevent fraud.
According to the Estonian National Electoral Committee there are no more technical obstacles to the use of Internet voting during the forthcoming elections, which were widely expected to pave the way to optional, generalised legally binding Internet vote during the legislative elections of 2007. Developed by IT services company Cybernetica for the Estonian National Electoral Committee, the Internet voting system uses the Estonian electronic ID card to identify voters. Over 50% of citizens today hold such a card and, according to the government, every Estonian citizen will have an electronic ID card by the end of 2006.
Quelle: IDABC, 08.07.2005
