Electronic voting: an overview

Technology upgrades in elections are always challenging projects that require careful deliberation and planning. Introducing electronic voting (also called e-voting) is probably the most difficult upgrade as this technology touches the core of the entire electoral process—the casting and counting of the votes.

E-voting greatly reduces direct human control and influence in this process.

Functionalities.

An electronic voting systems have many functions, including encryption, randomization, communication and security systems. Some of the end-user functionalities that such systems can provide to both voters and election officials.

Electronic voter lists and voter authentication. Part of an electronic voting system can be an electronic voter list, covering either a single polling station or the entire country. This list can be used to authenticate eligible voters.
Poll worker interfaces. Special functionalities that are only available to poll workers, for example, resetting the vote count at the opening of the polling station, closing polling, printing and transmission of results.
Interfaces for casting votes. These include touch screens, optical mark recognition (OMR) ballot papers that are fed into a scanner, touch-sensitive tablets, push buttons, web pages or special client software for Internet voting.
Special interfaces for handicapped voters. These include Braille or audio input devices for the blind, easier access for voters with physical disabilities, and simpler interfaces for illiterate voters.

Strengths associated with e-voting.

Faster vote count and tabulation.
More accurate results as human error is excluded.
Efficient handling of complicated electoral systems formulae that require laborious counting procedures.
Improved presentation of complicated ballot papers.
Increased convenience for voters.

Weaknesses associated with e-voting.

Need for additional voter education campaigns.
Increased security requirements for protecting the voting system during and between elections including during transport, storage and maintenance.

At CGTS we are able to offer electoral solutions that provide a high degree of reliability to election processes. With our TVS (Total Vote Suite) product, it is possible to support different types of elections thanks to its design and modularity.

If you want more information about it, do not hesitate to contact us.