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| Source: Wikimedia |
Northern
Ireland and the Republic of Ireland don't see eye-to-eye on many issues. The
relationship between the two can be strained and, for many outsiders unfamiliar
with the area, it can also be quite confusing. Whereas Northern Ireland is a
part of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland is a sovereign state on its
own. And even though they may have their differences, it appears that they have
at least one thing in common: they both want to increase the use of electronic
voting technology.
An
article in the Belfast
Telegraph recently discussed the accuracy of predicting elections in the
area and how “it would be good to have even more information on the innards of
the voting system to analyse.” In order to gain this more detailed analytical
data, several parts in Northern Ireland are calling for “a system of
electronically counting votes.”
By
moving to e-voting technology for the tabulation of ballots, far more detail
about the voting patterns in different areas could become clearer. It would
make it easier to see where party support was coming from and, thus, parties
could then better organize their campaign strategies to target perceived
“openings” and how they could reinforce their efforts where they were “falling
short.” As more data became publicly available and as this data was organized
into charts and tables, smaller parties would collect insight that would help
make them more competitive against more established parties and politicians.
Of
course, using a computerized model of counting ballots would also mean that
election results could be reported sooner.
A
similar push for e-voting machines and electronic vote counting is being
witnessed in the Republic of Ireland as well. While e-voting machines have been
“maligned” in the country, Ireland's Minister for Children and Youth Affairs
Charlie Flanagan has noted that it
takes too long for the results of local and European elections to be
reported.
“Counting
is taking far too long,” said the Children's Minister. “Electronic voting must
be returned to the political agenda.”
In
three constituencies during the 2002 Irish general election, electronic voting
equipment was used on an experimental basis. Tests were conducted and the
equipment was purchased, but the governing bodies of Ireland never expanded the
e-voting technology to the rest of the nation. Flanagan feels it is time to
revisit this technology and the many benefits it can provide.
E-voting
allows for better accessibility for people with disabilities, for instance, and
the technology can help to invigorate and energize the youth vote. With countless
strange stories coming out of manual voting and manual ballot counting,
updating and upgrading to electronic voting can modernize the electoral process
and minimize human error.
From
Dublin to Belfast, the people of both Ireland and Northern Ireland are rooted
in deep tradition. However, the traditions of paper ballots and manual vote
counting must be put forth for public debate, opening an opportunity for
e-voting to reach both the United Kingdom and the independent Republic of
Ireland.
