02/08/07 - Official Report On The Electoral Pilot In Swindon

Official report on the electoral pilot at Swindon elections published

The piloting of internet and telephone voting, advance voting and ‘vote anywhere’ polling stations in Swindon provided electors with more choice over voting methods and in this respect facilitated and encouraged voting. However, delays to the commencement of the advance voting period and a range of technical problems experienced in the period leading up to and on polling day itself did cause inconvenience and frustration for some.

As part of a pilot project held by Swindon Borough Council, commissioned by the Ministry of Justice, voters had the option of voting via the internet or of using Interactive Voice Response (IVR) telephone voting. Advance electronic voting was available at five locations prior to polling day and there were 64 electronic polling stations across the Borough to facilitate a ‘vote anywhere’ environment on polling day. The Electoral Commission has a statutory duty to evaluate all electoral pilots and publish a report within three months of the elections taking place.

Andrew Scallan, Director of Electoral Administration at the Electoral Commission, said:

“Despite a tight timescale to get processes in place, and some technical problems, the project in Swindon was on the whole delivered successfully. The pilot scheme facilitated and encouraged voting and stakeholder confidence in the provisions was high.

“Our report concludes that this particular pilot was successfully delivered. However, we’re calling on the Government today to end the further piloting of electronic voting, until it has published an electoral modernisation strategy, which must incorporate a clear process for the development, testing and approval of e-voting solutions and a realistic timescale that will allow effective planning and implementation to take place”.

Other key observations in the report include:
• Almost a quarter of voters (24.1 percent) voted electronically, either remotely using internet and telephone voting or in a supervised location on or in advance of polling day;
• Turnout was slightly up on last year’s elections (from 34.2 percent to 35.1 percent) It is not possible to determine whether the pilot scheme had a significant impact on turnout but opinion research suggests 25 percent of remote internet voters would have been unlikely to vote if the online facility had been unavailable;
• The vast majority of internet and telephone voters (98 and 100 percent respectively) found voting processes easy to use, although one in ten and one in five respectively did experience some kind of technical problem. All voters found laptops in polling stations easy to use but again 13 percent experienced some technical problem;
• The cost of the pilot scheme provisions was £1,185,423, with the majority met by the Ministry of Justice. The cost is equivalent to £102.50 per electronic voter.

Twelve pilot schemes were held across 13 local authority areas across England on 3 May, trialling different methods such as advance voting, signing for ballot papers, electronic voting and electronic counting.

The evaluation reports for each of the 12 pilots, and five themed papers on the methods trialled are available at: www.electoralcommission.org.uk

Notes:
1. The Electoral Commission is an independent body set up by the UK Parliament. Our aim is public confidence and integrity in the democratic process.
2. Under the Representation of the People Act 2000, local authorities in England or Wales can submit proposals to the Secretary of State to carry out an electoral pilot scheme. Electoral pilot schemes can involve changes to when, where and how voting at local elections is to take place, how the votes cast at the elections are to be counted, or allow candidates to send free election communications to electors.
3. The Electoral Commission has a statutory duty to evaluate and report on any pilot scheme approved by the Secretary of State under the Representation of the People Act (RPA) 2000.

Cllr Justin Tomlinson, Prospective MP - Swindon North, "The findings of the Electoral Commission are extremely valid.  Whilst there is much potential in internet and telephone voting (Swindon has now trialed this on three occassions), it is essential the technology is robust, safe and fully tested." 

"The cost at present is clearly prohibitive, during the pilots the Swindon Council tax payer did not contribute, and at the current levels it would simply not be practicle without external Government funding."

"As a local political party will always be supportive of testing new methods to boost electoral participation."

This can be debated futher on the Swindon Talk forum