The electors will be able to vote through the Internet. The authorities are preparing such an alternative for the voters who will be unable to get to polling stations on election day. E-voting will also enable to vote beforehand. The authors of the “e-Voting” concept propose that elections on the Internet should be held during several days in a row, earlier than the traditional election day. In case of plural voting, the last vote should be declared the valid one. The new version of the Electoral Code will contain a new chapter on e-voting, IPN reports.
The “e-Voting” concept was presented in an event staged by the Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE) in partnership with the Central Election Commission (CEC) and the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections, with support from the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
In the event, CEC president Angelica Caraman said the implementation of the alternative voting methods has been discussed long given that society makes progress. Moreover, there are different unplanned situations, such as a pandemic. The necessity of implementing information technology in the voting process was also emphasized by the experience gained when holding the last two elections abroad. “In Moldova, there are all the preconditions for implementing e-voting, including developed Internet infrastructure, mobile network coverage, a relatively high Internet usage rate among the population,” said the CEC president.
Deputy Prime Minister for Digitization Iurie Țurcanu said that the large number of citizens who are abroad is Moldova’s particularity. For most of the times, it is much easier for them to use particular services or exercise particular rights using information technology remotely with the same level of confidence. The e-voting has advantages, but also generates risks and measures should be taken to prevent these. In general, the country is ready for implementing such a concept.
MP Ana Calinici noted that the people are more skeptical at first and do not really have confidence in alternative voting methods, but the confidence increases gradually and confidence in an e-voting system is determined by the trust in state institutions. The legislative body will examine this concept and will analyze the risks it can generate. Other states managed to successfully implement such systems.
IPRE associated expert Victor Guzun said that e-voting is discussed in the context of major problems: about 1 million citizens have reduced possibilities of exercising their supreme right to vote their representatives in Moldova’s executive bodies. As a result, political representativeness is affected. “E-voting is intended not only for the citizens who are abroad. It is for the benefit of each citizen of the Republic of Moldova, particularly for several categories, including persons with limited mobility possibilities on election day – persons who cannot move, who are in the hospital, etc.,” he noted.
CEC member Sergiu Gurduza said that in elections or referendums, the voter puts only one vote in the virtual (electronic) ballot box. If a person votes for several times, only the last vote is taken into account. This principle ensures the observance of another two major principles – secret ballot and freedom to exercise the right to vote. Moreover, the vote changing option can be an efficient instrument against vote buying.
Among the identified risks, Sergiu Gurduza mentioned the violation of the principle of confidentiality of the vote, forcing of the person to vote for a particular candidate and an eventual cyber-attack against the system, including with the modification of the voting results. But the system also provides advantages, including comfort for the voter, swiftness and reduced costs for voters.
The first utilization of the e-voting system is to be decided by Parliament following a number of reports that will be presented by the CEC, the Government and the Security and Intelligence Service, on the readiness of the system and ensuring of cybersecurity.
Within the IT network of CEC, e-voting will be ensured by an information subsystem called “e-Voting”, which is part of the automated information system “Elections”.
