Campaign primer
January 20th, 2004 | by aobaoill |At What Cost? is co-ordinated by a group of concerned voters. There are three main problems we have identified with the system of electronic voting being implemented in Ireland:
- There is no means of independent scrutiny of the voting and counting process. While an election may be fair, there is no way to demonstrate or see that this is the case.
- There is no way to cast an intentionally spoilt, blank, or ‘none of the above’ ballot.
- Because of the large capital outlay, it will be 15 years before the system starts making economic sense. In the meantime, MS Windows 98, on which the system is based, is already obsolete, and Microsoft will cease maintaining it in two years time.
Statements from government members indicate that electronic voting is being implemented largely as ‘technology for its own sake’ in order to demonstrate Ireland’s faith in “cutting edge technology.” The electoral process should not be misused for such purposes.
The argument that electronic voting will be easier, and may therefore improve electoral turnout, holds little water. This aspect has been of such low priority that the government has completed no tests of usability or related aspects. The only usability test was in Cologne, where the German list system was used, so little can be construed regarding the Irish system. An exit poll of those using electronic voting in 2000 bears little weight, as the sample was largely self-selecting (those who chose to vote), and did not include those who do not vote.
If you agree with some or all of our arguments above, we hope you will join with us. Our campaign has the following elements:
- Website with resources for local, distributed campaigns. We have posters, flyers, and t-shirt designs available. Feel free to download and print them out, and use them in your local campaigns.
- Central core co-ordinating the local groups and individuals.
- Traditional publicity campaign, aimed at increasing awareness of the negative aspects of the system being implemented, and our campaign against it.
- Mass civil action surrounding the local and European elections in June.
2 Responses to “Campaign primer”
By ed on Feb 6, 2004 | Reply
heard paul whelan on radio 1 yesterday. is that the same ucg guy who was involved in fianna fail and then subsequently defected (and deselected)to sinn fein?
best of luck with campaign.
By Andrew Ó Baoill on Feb 6, 2004 | Reply
Yes, indeed, you have the right man. He has great experience in Irish politics, in administration, policy and campaigning. Other activists include members of many other Irish parties and none, and we are maintaining a non-party political stance for the organisation.