The Opinions of World Leaders on E-Voting

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
applauds the electronic voting system used in the nation. 

Electronic voting systems can take on many forms. Some may be completely digital in nature, whereas others may have more paper documentation in place for the purposes of record-keeping and audit trails. Whatever the case, the endorsement of powerful world leaders is positively necessary if e-voting is to be more widely adopted and used around the globe. The question is how current politicians and heads of state currently feel about the types of technology available.

Internet Voting: Interview with William J. Kelleher, Ph.D.

William J. Kelleher has a Ph.D. in political science, from the University of California, Santa Barbara (1984).  He has written two books about the process of elections in the USA. The first, The New Election Game (1987), reviewed the history of campaign finance reform in US presidential elections, and discussed Buckminster Fuller’s idea of telephone voting as an election reform.  That book came out just before the “PC Revolution,” in the US.  So, the new technology soon made that book out of date.  His second book on election reform is Internet Voting Now! (2011).   As the title suggests, he advocates using Internet voting for all US elections.  

Read the interview

Where’s E-Voting Heading To?

Eduardo Correia,
Smartmatic's Electoral Unit Vice President

Just as the universe is always changing and as our planet and all living things evolve, society is in constant evolution. That conglomerate of individuals who share ideas, traditions, information, foundations and ideologies, is also evolving towards a more responsible and demanding trend that seeks stronger democratic systems. One of the tools for achieving this objective is the vote, and the transparent election of representative officials.

As technology is an essential part of our daily life, automated voting systems are becoming an appropriate vehicle to attain a solid and legitimate democratic model. Gradually, automated voting systems have been perfected and, as if they were living organisms, they have matured into a successful pattern, already adopted by many nations. What then is the future of electronic voting?

According to Eduardo Correia, Smartmatic’s Electoral Unit Vice President, “today's automated voting systems stem from the idea of ensuring that any election results are determined solely by the will of the voters. Based on the number of previous successful experiences in Brazil, the Philippines and India for over 10 years, processes that have not only been well executed, but also very well received by the electorate, we can say that electronic voting is definitely an irreversible trend”.