THE CASE FOR INTERNET VOTING
papers readily accessible and the capacity to return them immediately. I am reminded of the 2008 general election in Queensland when a significant portion of the state was inundated by flood, rendering it impossible for electors in those regions to cast their customary postal vote. As Queensland’s (then) Electoral Commissioner, I authorised the deployment of helicopters to fly ballot papers into affected areas, designating cattle stations to be individual polling places and appointing pilots as electoral officials, the only available means of ensuring that electors in the affected areas could actually vote. Given that electors were advised by email when the choppers would be arriving, internet voting would have been a cheaper and more easily accessible option if allowed under electoral laws. Similarly, given that Australians undertake a relatively high level of overseas travel,9
internet
voting would provide a far more reliable option than the vagaries of the international postal services.
The last but certainly not least consideration I wish to raise is that many Australians with disabilities such as blindness are currently denied a secret vote (and thereby their rights under international conventions) through the necessity to seek assistance in filling out a ballot paper. Many of them, though, have special
“Internet voting also offers the potential to ensure that a greater proportion of votes cast actually end up being admitted to the count.”
computer equipment in their own homes which they use for other transactions and which they could use to cast their vote without assistance, but again - if the legislation allowed. Only one Australian jurisdiction has to date authorised and implemented internet voting for people with disabilities. If a staged approach to the introduction of internet voting is considered desirable by other legislatures, there could be no more justified place to start than by using modern technology to ensure that people with disabilities are not denied their right to vote in secret.
This is the very least that can and should be done to reform our voting system. Australia was once a world leader in introducing the secret ballot. The opportunity presents itself to get back on the leaders board. I make no claim that the introduction of internet voting offers a universal panacea to the challenge of declining electoral participation. Clearly, political parties have a part to play in the way that they campaign (handing out ‘How to Vote’ cards in polling booths is not likely to ‘cut it’ with younger people) and by reviewing the relevance of their policies to a younger generation of electors. I have already referred to the importance of civic education, a means of inculcating habits of community participation at an early age. From an electoral administrator’s perspective, three further points are worth emphasising, however, by way of conclusion.
Firstly, Australian electoral laws and systems are showing their age and are crying out for reform.
Secondly, internet voting could be introduced in phases, initially targeting particular groups who stand to be disadvantaged or where there is a risk they may be disenfranchised under the current system.
Finally, instead of shying away because of security concerns, Australian legislatures would do well to provide electoral management bodies with the challenge and resources to build robust internet voting systems, at least as an adjunct to the current paper-based system. The time is fast approaching when new generations of electors will countenance nothing less.
References 1
For example the 2007
Australian federal election, where many commentators and media acknowledged there was a significant mood for change. There was a clear spike in enrolments
See for example: http://www.
elections.nsw.gov.au/__data/ assets/pdf_file/0013/103207/ International_Experiences_of_ Electronic_Voting_and_Their_ Implications_for_New_South_
leading in to the election. 2
Wales_Report_2009.pdf p.29 3
Only electors in remote areas, those who will be outside of the state when the election occurs, and people with disabilities that would otherwise deprive them of a secret vote, are entitled to register to vote online. New South Wales also recently became the first jurisdiction to authorise the universal use of ball point pens rather than pencils in
polling booths. 4
http://www.abs.gov. au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/ Lookup/8146.0Chapter12012 -13
5
http://www.internetlivestats.
com/ 6
See: http://www.elections.
nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_ file/0013/103207/International_ Experiences_of_Electronic_Voting_ and_Their_Implications_for_New_
South_Wales_Report_2009.pdf 7
Lists of electors who voted are scanned after each election to check for possible instances of multiple voting. Electors are not expected, however, to provide any form of identification when they turn up to vote.
• •
It is worth noting that at the 2013 Western Australian general election over 17,000 electors were excused from not voting because they were either interstate or overseas at the time.
8 9
Further Reading •
Asset Research, Report on the Western Australian Electoral Commission Survey of Voters – State General Election 2013 (April 2013)
• Australian Electoral
Commission and University of Sydney, Youth Electoral Study: Report 1: Enrolment and voting (2004) Report 2: Youth, political engagement and voting (2005) Report 3: Youth, the family, and learning about politics and voting (2006) Report 4: Youth, political parties and the intention to vote (2007) Report 5: Youth, Schools and learning about politics (2009)
Australian Electoral Commission Media Release 29 May 2012
www.aec.gov. au>media>media-releases
•
Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, Second interim report on the inquiry into the conduct of the 2013 federal election, November 2014
•
Queensland Legislative Assembly Legal, Constitutional and Administrative Review Committee Report, Voices and Votes A Parliamentary Inquiry into Young People’s Engagement in Democracy (2005)
Whitlam Institute, University of Western Sydney:
Young People Imagining a New Democracy: Young People’s Voices (2008)
Youth Federal Election Voting Intentions 1996-2010 (2011) Youth Federal Election Voting Intentions Update (2013)
At a cost of some A$20 million
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