Electronic voting could be tested at the next national elections, said the vice president of the Central Election Commission (CEC). According to Pavel Postica, if there is political will and the bill is adopted in Parliament, the functionality of the e-voting system could be tested at the next national elections. According to experts, e-voting offers more flexibility to the voters and will eliminate the interminable lines formed at polling places abroad on election days, IPN reports.
The Commission approved the concept of the e-voting system that requires possessing an electronic identity card or digital signature for being able to vote. Representatives of the CEC said that if there is political support for this concept, the e-voting system could be tested at the next elections.
“We, the representatives of CEC, in partnership with SIS, the Information Technology Service and the Public Services Agency, with political support from Parliament, would be ready to implement and test the e-voting system on a small scale at the next national elections, but only in several localities or in one locality. It is premature and it won’t be fair for the CEC to promise to introduce e-voting during a very short period of time without testing this,” Pavel Postica stated in the program “Freedom with Dorin Galben” on TV8 channel.
According to experts, electronic voting is the safest voting option that ensures access to the electoral process for all the citizens from the diaspora or for those who are unable to go to poling places on election day.
“The Republic of Moldova needs e-voting as we have experienced a series of problems since the elections held after 2016. I refer to the exhaustion of ballot papers at polling places abroad, the endless queues that formed at polling places outside the country. Furthermore, some of the voters had to cover hundreds if not thousands of kilometers to be able to vote. If the voting system fails, all the citizens will be able to vote in person at ballot boxes. E-voting is to take place three-four days before election day. During the election week, from Monday through Wednesday, those who can will be able to vote electronically. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, the responsible bodies can pronounce on cyber-attacks. If these occur, all the citizens are invited to cast their ballots in person and the electronic vote is not taken into account,” said the expert of the Institute for European Policies and Reforms Mihai Mogîldea.
“The concept provides that e-voting will not be implemented immediately. The elections will be held in parallel to see how the system works. E-voting will cover not only the diaspora, but also the persons with reduced mobility capacities, those who are in hospitals, those who travel often. When someone votes online and trusts the digital authentication mechanisms, I don’t think these persons will want to vote in person again. No one would like to stay in interminable lines to be able to vote,” said expert in digitalization policies Victor Guzun.
Recently, PAS MP Olesea Stamate in a TV program said there is no consensus on the implementation of the e-voting system inside the parliamentary majority for now. Electronic voting implies huge investments and can generated risks of electoral fraud inside or outside the country if drastic cybersecurity measures are not taken.