The online voting trial for this year’s local body elections are not going ahead, the Government has announced. Associate Local Government Minister Louise Upston says there is more work to be done to ensure a trial of online voting meets public and government expectations. “Public confidence in local elections is fundamentally important. Given real concerns about security and vote integrity, it is too early for a trial,” says Upston. “Due to timing restrictions, preparations for the proposed trial have not yet met the legislative requirements and cannot guarantee public confidence in the election results,” she explains.
Upston says security testing has been planned but has not yet occurred. “Without seeing the results of testing we cannot be confident the systems are secure enough, and the trial could not be authorised,” she says.
“We acknowledge the work done by councils and service providers on their proposals and we understand their disappointment that the trials cannot go ahead this year as originally hoped.”
Upston says significant timeframe pressures in preparing for a trial for this year’s local elections combined exacerbated the risks inherent in a trial.
Full Article: IT Brief NZ – Online voting trial canned.