Member Article

Electronic polling system tested by Newcastle University

An electronic vote counting system, designed to overcome the previous problems of automated counting of ballot papers in elections, was tested for the first time at Newcastle University this week.

The ‘Pret a Voter’ system has been designed by computer scientists at Newcastle and Surrey Universities, who believe there may be interest from many countries, including the UK and USA.

The trial run, supported by the Electoral Reform Society, took place in the King’s Road Centre at Newcastle University, when students were invited to cast a vote for one of three charities.

Professor Peter Ryan, a computer scientist who led the project, said that a successful trial run will help prove that the system could be introduced in polling stations. Eventually, the system could allow people to vote from home via the internet, but that would require further development, he said.

To use the system, voters are given a ballot paper and draw a cross by a candidate (in this case, a charity) in the normal way. However, the positions of the candidates on the paper are selected at random. After the cross has been drawn, the voter tears off the list of candidates, so that it is impossible to tell who has been voted for. The strip of paper with the cross is then scanned in to a computer, along with a serial number which allows the computer to allocate the vote to the correct candidate. Afterwards, voters can check that their vote has been cast by logging on to a special website and entering their serial number.

Many countries have tried to introduce electronic voting in the past but results have generally been disappointing. Professor Ryan says the big advantage of Pret a Voter is that people and auditors can check that the system has worked properly and fairly and has not been tampered with illegally.

For more information about Pret a Voter, visit www.pretavoter.com.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .