Officials begin a three-day period of testing Estonia’s e-election system today, and voters can also participate. The testing comes in light of the fact that the upcoming local government elections will be the first in which Internet voters will be able to verify that they have voted – a sort of electronic receipt, reported ETV. Those wishing to vote online, as has been possible in Estonia since 2005, must download the voting software and log in with their national ID card or mobile ID. Despite its reputation as an Estonian success story, e-voting has been a controversial issue that has been challenged by political opposition, claims of security vulnerabilities and an ensuing Supreme Court case.
The new system for verifying votes has been introduced to quell concerns of skeptics, although proponents of e-voting argue that the verification system makes electronic ballots even more secure than regular paper ballots because with the latter there is no guarantee that a vote has been registered.
Election Day is on October 20, and the period of e-voting will be from October 10 to 16. In the 2011 general elections, 24.3 percent of the votes cast were done so by e-vote, according to the National Electoral Committee.
Source: Electoral Committee Launches E-Voting Tests | Politics | News | ERR.