Balancing Security, Transparency, and Efficiency: The Belgian E-Voting Blueprint

The electronic voting system being used in Flanders is emerging as one of Europe’s enduring and most thoughtfully designed ventures in digital democracy. Over three election cycles, 2012, 2018, and 2024, Flanders has developed and refined an offline voting system that balances technological efficiency with the bedrock principles of security and transparency. The model proves digitalization, when properly governed, can strengthen public trust.

According to a paper presented by election technologist Jan Coudron at the recent E-Vote ID Conference in France, the system is built on the idea of verifiable paper trail, which anchors every digital ballot in a physical record.

After voters make their selection on the touchscreen, the machine prints a paper ballot showing both the readable choices and a QR code that encodes the same information. The voter can then visually confirm their vote before depositing the printout into a sealed ballot box. This ensures that each electronic vote has a tangible, auditable counterpart—bridging the gap between digital efficiency and paper-based trust.

History

Belgium’s foray into e-voting began in the early 1990s with the Digivote and Jites systems, which relied on magnetic cards. While these early efforts demonstrated technical potential, concerns about transparency, auditability, and long-term reliability soon surfaced.

In response, a 2007 study called BeVoting, authored by a consortium of seven Belgian universities—redefined the nation’s approach around three core principles: verifiability, security, and offline operation.

By 2012, Flanders rolled out the “enhanced paper voting” system, combining touchscreen convenience with a voter-verifiable paper trail. Over the next decade, the model steadily expanded. By 2024, it covered about 62% of Flemish voters across 159 municipalities—transforming what began as a limited pilot into a core feature of regional democracy.

Firm legal foundations

The Flemish model is grounded on a robust legal and institutional framework. Two decrees—the Local and Provincial Electoral Decree (2011) and the Digital Electoral Decree (2012)—establish strict rules for system design, data management, and verification procedures. Oversight is vested in an independent College of Experts appointed by the Flemish Parliament, complemented by certified evaluators who audit hardware and software integrity before and after each election.

The Flemish platform operates entirely offline. Votes are recorded locally, printed on paper, and stored both digitally and physically. Encrypted data copies are saved on multiple USB drives, while every stage—from system setup to result transmission—is sealed, hashed, and logged for verification. This “island architecture” drastically reduces cyberattack surfaces while maintaining the speed and reliability expected from digital processes.

Early learnings

The 2012 rollout surfaced several lessons: compressed preparation timelines, uneven staff training, and interface issues like accidental double taps. However, subsequent evaluations in 2018 and 2024 recorded marked improvement. Manuals were rewritten in clearer, visual formats; polling officers received better training; and the interface was redesigned for clarity and accessibility. By 2024, 94% of municipal coordinators reported satisfaction with the system, praising its stability, accuracy, and ease of use.

Tangible improvements

Electronic voting has transformed election logistics in Flanders. Where manual counting once consumed days, complete municipal results now arrive within hours. In the 2024 elections, polls closed at 3 p.m., and full results were ready by 7 p.m. The system also reduced manpower requirements by an estimated 10,000 staff compared with manual counting. Yet the emphasis on transparency never diminished—each digital tally remains verifiable against its corresponding paper ballot, ensuring that efficiency does not come at the cost of trust.

Ensuring long-term gains

With the current equipment contracts expiring in 2027, Flanders now faces critical policy decisions: whether to upgrade, extend, or transition to new platforms. Considerations include system cost, accessibility for voters with disabilities, sustainability of hardware, and potential integration with national digital identity programs. Whatever direction policymakers choose, maintaining the delicate balance among security, transparency, and efficiency will remain the touchstone of the next phase.

Flanders’ offline e-voting model demonstrates that democratic innovation is not defined by speed or modernity alone—it is defined by verifiable trust. By keeping the process auditable, offline, and under independent oversight, Belgium has shown that technology can reinforce rather than compromise electoral integrity.

The Flemish experience stands as a measured, mature blueprint for resilient digital democracy.

Switzerland cancels online voting pilot

The Swiss government has suspended the use of online voting just months ahead of this year’ October parliamentary elections. The reason: technical flaws in the two e-voting systems currently in use.

Following a cross-party campaign, critics have announced they will be proposing a five-year moratorium on e-voting trials. The setback is concerning. Stalling technology development could prove detrimental to election participation, as many voters had grown accustomed to the convenience of online voting.

Even though the Swiss Federal Council has been a champion of e-voting, and has trialed remote electronic polling across multiple cantons for the past fifteen years, the deferral should not come as a surprise.

A similar situation occurred back in 2015, when the Swiss government decided to deny access to e-voting technology in nine cantons before the parliamentary polls.

The e-voting context is relevant

·      Only about 2% of Swiss voters cast their ballots online. The Federal Council proposed (2018) to make e-voting a third regular voting channel, alongside in-person and postal votes.

·      While the Council has suggested that two-thirds of cantons should offer it, opponents launched a people's initiative asking for a 5-year moratorium on e-voting and ongoing trials.

·      Over 90% of voters in Switzerland vote by mail. A more common voting option than in most countries around the world. Public trust in the postal service and other voting providers is usually at high levels.

·      A technical flaw concerning universal verifiability was discovered in the e-voting system that the postal service planned to roll out in four cantons for this year’s parliamentary elections.

·      Swiss Post acknowledged that the error in the source code had already been identified in 2017, and pledged to develop a new, updated version available from 2020. Regretfully, the correction was not fully implemented by the technology provider.

·      The government and the cantonal authorities are currently evaluating possible ways to move forward.

Affected audiences

The government resolution to drop online voting directly affects the expatriate community. The Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) has requested the government to reconsider the decision and has taken a leading role in the introduction of electronic voting.

Over 180,000 Swiss expatriates are eligible to take part in votes. They usually vote by post, but the organization has denounced that the envelopes often arrive too late, violating their right to fully participate in the elections. Remo Gysin, OSA President, has called for online voting to be made available for all Swiss expatriates by 2021.

On the other hand, other stakeholders affected by the decision are the cantons which were subscribed e-voting. For instance, Fribourg, Neuchâtel, and Thurgau will seek compensation after spending money on making the system ready to voters in the October elections.

Brazil election system: From paper ballots to e-voting giant

By the end of the last century, there was a deep-rooted public outcry regarding electoral justice across the world. This urge bore the need for electronic voting, a technology solution ensuring transparency, accountability, and security in election processes.

Brazil was among the pioneer nations that embraced e-voting. Voting was made compulsory with the introduction of electronic voting in 1996. Fast forward twenty-three years, and there are many lessons we have learned from this South American giant.

Grim beginnings
The Brazilian system was secret balloting whereby votes were cast individually on traditionally printed ballot papers. Over time, analysts and skeptics alluded that the traditional scheme of voting had massive flaws that rendered the electoral process shambolic.

The paper voting system and the ballot boxes proved untrustworthy. The paper-based manual system demanded intensive workforce which drew significant amounts in compensation, even if it did not ensure the accuracy and credibility of the process. Similarly, there was no possibility to reuse or recycle paper ballots.

The system was characterized by massive destruction of votes as well as manipulation during tallying. Besides, the traditional method of voting was tedious, and many citizens avoided participating. For instance, people who lived far away from the voting booth would skip voting, compromising on the turnout expected. This shortcoming also created a leeway for electoral fraud and malpractice such as bribes for people to take part.

Something had to change. It was for many of these reasons that electronic voting was proposed and implemented.

The election technology transformation

Elections around the world are increasingly relying on technology to make them more transparent and efficient. Technology is easing many election-related processes ranging from registration of voter IDs to announcement of polling stations, counting of votes to online results publication and many other things.

By the year 2000, Brazil was already conducting elections using digital ballot boxes nationwide. Nowadays, the country has over 460,000 electronic voting stations, which help to increase the number of voters each year, at around six percent.

Since the introduction of e-voting, Brazil has witnessed a significant reduction of barriers to democratic participation, particularly among the less educated electorate. For example, electronic voting has eliminated many reported difficulties for writing paper ballots.

The machines are being modernized with each passing election to develop a user-friendly and straightforward interface so that illiterate voters can also easily use them. They have also isolated the machine from communication devices, dedicating them for only voting purpose, for reducing the chances of external hacking. In addition to the installation of fingerprint readers in the digital machines, the Brazilian government is also working to equip them with face readers.

The paradigm shift from traditional paper ballots to electronic voting in Brazil has further established mainly positive effects stemming from abating spoiled votes together with the enfranchisement of lesser socio-economic status electorates.

Brazil has gone a long way in its election technology journey. It has already set an excellent precedent for other democracies, even though there is -and there will continuously be- room for improvement to enhance its electronic voting solution.

From Estonia to Zimbabwe, a multicultural call for e-voting

The urge to have free, fair and credible elections in African democracies has prompted most leaders to go out of their way to seek drastic measure to achieve that quality. The 2018 general elections in Zimbabwe are a demonstration of how desperate African states need to embrace e-voting system in their elections.

Envisaging the impasse in the elections, the transition government led by President Mnangagwa reached out to Estonia in search for help in exploring the possibility of implementing an e-voting system. This was a strategy aimed at enabling Zimbabweans who were living in the diaspora to take part in the national elections from the comfort of their destinations.

A timely solution for the diaspora

There had been a long clamour by the diaspora-based Zimbabweans demanding an opportunity to exercise their democratic right, even when they are away from their country. Desperate efforts had been done but remained futile following a conspicuous lack of political goodwill especially from the former regime of President Robert Mugabe.

This has come at a time when several Zimbabweans living in diaspora had to undertake a rigorous effort appealing to the government through law courts for the facilitation of their participation in the political processes. Although this quest would not be successful after a long struggle, the agitators never relented. After the ouster of the former president from power, the effort took a different turn as the current president reach out to Estonia for help.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa guaranteed Zimbabweans who inhabited in the US that his organization would investigate the likelihood of executing e-voting sooner rather than later as had been revealed by the state-run news office. Mnangagwa, in the interim, met Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas on the side-lines of the UNGA to examine a series of issues including how Zimbabwe could take advantage of Estonian information on e-voting.

Estonia’s online voting leadership

The agreement between the two leaders entailed that the ICT officials would be outsourced from Estonia to educate the ICT officials in Zimbabwe who would then disseminate similar education to the citizens living in the diaspora to undertake the process.

Estonia remains a hub of technology and e-voting. It has already offered guidance to help a series of countries including Afghanistan and Pakistan in curbing election irregularities during their general elections.

Estonia is in truth a pioneer with ICT advancements. In the case of Zimbabwe, the president evaluated three basic zones of collaboration with the Baltic country, e-wellbeing, e-administration, and e-voting. e-Voting is gradually becoming a solution highly sought after by developing countries to eliminate electoral fraud in their political regimes. 

Estonia’s online voting is a worldwide reference

More than a decade after its first experience using election technology, Estonia continues to spearhead online voting,

During the recent local elections held on October 15, Estonia set a new record for online participation. 186,034 citizens voted via the Internet, 39% more than the number recorded in the last elections of 2015.

This election was also unique because, for the first time, the Parliament allowed young people between 16 and 17 years old to participate. On the other hand, 27% more citizens over 55 years old voted using online voting, compared to previous elections.

By facilitating voting to people with reduced mobility, residents in border cities and abroad, online voting has proven effective in enfranchise citizenry.

Estonia is well ahead the curve when it comes to e-governance. It is probably the only country in the world where 99% of the public services are available online 24/7.

The commitment of government officials to efficiency and transparency is behind the successful adoption of technology. The video below shows Estonia’s Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas promoting online voting.

E-voting in South Korea expanded to corporate world

The adoption and widespread implementation of electronic voting technology in the election of government officials, presidents and other elected officials can oftentimes be hampered by the bureaucracy and party politics of public office. The technology is already here and it's ready, but some politicians are hesitant to that sort of change. And this is why some of the best advances may be coming from the private sector.

The private sector is inherently more agile and quickly adaptable to change than the public sector. Major corporations and multinational companies in particularly can reap many benefits from using e-voting technology within their own decision-making infrastructure. In the case of South Korea, it has now been announced by the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) that it will adopt electronic voting for its own internal processes.

Part of the motivation behind this move, according to an article in Business Korea, is to “act as a stimulus for the enhancement of voting rights of shareholders.” In many ways, the shareholders in a company are not dissimilar from the citizens of a particular country. The decisions made by executives and elected officials affect the shareholders and citizens directly, and thus the shareholders and citizens want to ensure that their opinions and preferences are heard.

KEPCO is not the first company in Korea to make this move, as some 452 Korean companies have already adopted e-voting as part of their own practices. This is according to the Korea Securities Depository and it reflects an astronomical increase compared to just 79 companies at the end of last year. This still only represents 19 percent of companies in the KOSPI and 24 percent of companies in the KOSDAQ, so much more progress needs to made among public companies in Korea to implement electronic voting.

The positive trend toward the higher adoption of e-voting among corporations and public companies is also being reflected in other parts of Asia. More specifically, e-voting was mandated for listing companies in Taiwan earlier this year. The popularity of e-voting in the private sector is growing and will quickly become the norm.

For elections in the South Korean government itself, progress has been slower. The country's people are generally more conservative in nature, though it did elect its first female president two years ago. This demonstrates some inclination toward a more progressive mindset, one that would be more amenable to the adoption of e-voting for public elections too.

At this time, elections in South Korea do not use technology for voter registration purposes, nor is an e-voting system used in elections for public office. It's quite possible that the growth of e-voting in the private sector, as demonstrated by KEPCO's announcement, will help to spur further development in the public sector too.

This is in addition to tests and demonstrations of e-voting in recent years that have further illustrated that Korea, a country rich in tradition yet definitely on the forefront of innovation with such heavy hitters as LG and Samsung, is ready to adopt e-voting on a more public context. It's ready to move into the 21^st century.

Reviewing the results of Bulgaria's e-voting referendum

One of the purist and most direct ways to gauge the popular opinion on an important issue is to hold a referendum. In this way, you are granting voters the same access to expressing their viewpoint as they have during a regular election that would see the selection of new heads of state and legislative representatives. When the referendum ties into the electoral process itself, the cycle is completed.

This is a big reason why the recent referendum held in the country of Bulgaria is so important. The results of the referendum could set a precedent not only in Bulgaria itself, but also in other democracies around the world. It could also expedite, maintain, or diminish any progress made in other countries seeking similar movements and advances in its electoral processes.

The referendum was first proposed last year and consisted of three different questions. After some debate among government officials, the national referendum was eventually narrowed down to a single question. It asked the people of Bulgaria whether or not they would support the use of technology to allow for remote voting through electronic means.

The support for e-voting was largely being gauged in the context of distance voting. More specifically, the referendum question was worded as thus:

“Do you support that remote electronic voting is enabled when elections and referendums are held?”

Despite what some of the opponents may have to say about the adoption of e-voting and i-voting technology in modern elections, the result of the Bulgarian referendum is one of overwhelming support for the use of remote electronic voting.

The exact figures from different sources vary somewhere between 69.5 percent and 72.5 percent, but the Bulgarians who did participate in the referendum have clearly indicated that they support and favor remote electronic voting in future elections and referendums. Compare this to the mere 26 percent who voted against the introduction of electronic distance voting. Even in the district with the least support for the adoption of e-voting, Shoumen, a 57.8 percent majority still marked their ballots with a “yes.” The capital city of Sofia saw the largest support for e-voting at 76.5 percent of the vote.

The referendum question itself was also posed to Bulgarians who are living or working abroad through a number of overseas polling stations. This only makes sense, as this is the demographic that would be affected the most by the implementation of remote e-voting possibilities in the Bulgarian democracy.

Interest in electronic voting technology and interest in participating in nationally-held elections are also growing in Bulgaria. When the country last held a referendum in 2013, voter turnout was a mere 20.22%. With this most recent referendum, that figure nearly doubled to 39.67%. There is still much room to grow and to learn, but the positive trend demonstrates promise.

While this level of voter turnout in the e-voting referendum in Bulgaria is not enough to be legally binding at the governmental level, which requires a turnout of at least 48.7 percent, it is above the 20 percent threshold needed in order to require the National Assembly in Bulgaria to further debate the issue and to keep the conversation moving forward.

Where the Bulgarian democracy goes from here remains to be seen, but given the steadfast determination of President Rosen Plevneliev in pursuing the e-voting agenda, the issue will clearly remain top of mind and a continued topic of hot debate. 

The continued growth of remote e-voting in India

As the world's second largest country by population and the world's largest democracy overall, India certainly faces more than its fair share of bureaucratic and logistical challenges in addressing the needs of its citizens. The economy is growing and jobs are being created, but living conditions for many Indian residents continues to be wearisome. And with this many people anxious to have their voices heard for how to move the country forward, capturing their intentions on Election Day can be a logistical and administrative nightmare.

One strategy that has been making significant progress in recent years is the rising adoption of electronic voting technology, particularly as it pertains to the possibility of an Internet-based online voting solution. It has been said by the Central Election Commission that a new e-voting system will be introduced soon and this will help significantly with reducing or even eliminating the issues surrounding extraordinarily long queues on voting day.

The appeal of being able to cast a ballot online is multi-faceted, going beyond the convenience of avoiding long lineups on Election Day. The simple convenience of being able to vote from home or even on a mobile device is undeniable, as is the ease of access for people who may have geographic or physical challenges to overcome. This should help with improving voter turnout too.

What's more, it's said that voting online would help to mitigate issues related to the intimidating attempts made by “goons paid for by the local leaders” that have become a problem at voting places.

The benefits for the government and for the electoral commission cannot be understated either, by reducing the wastage of paper and other resources that are needed to run a more physically-oriented election.

This all sounds very good, but it's also increasingly clear that much more work remains to be done. The e-voting and online voting solution appears to be working, but the registration process for i-voting has been nothing short of a catastrophic debacle. The Gujarat Congress issued a statement decrying the lack of adequate preparation on the part of the State Election Commission in its execution of the online voting system.

More specifically, it says that some 20,000 citizens “had registered for online voting, but necessary details for registrations were not timely shared with them by SEC.” While the SEC had sent the required usernames and passwords to registrants, the required weblink was not included. What's more, because of further technical complications and challenges, registered voters could not even complete the activation of the e-voting process.

The logistics of the situation were further exacerbated as the convenience of voting from home was nullified. Registrants were told to visit a local office in person to complete a verification form, but upon arrival, they were told to go to the magistrate office for even further verification. This is no longer convenient at all and, as such, more preparation in preparing the infrastructure for e-voting and i-voting is clearly required.

All is not lost and other democracies around the world can look to India to address problems with their own e-voting and i-voting systems in a more pre-emptive manner. Moving forward, India endeavors to make it easier for non-residents to vote online too and the recent mandates toward this goal should spur on further progress and development. 

Managing the complexity of the Venezuelan parliamentary elections

On December 6, Venezuela will hold parliamentary elections amidst a highly polarized political environment. Authorities are expecting 20 million voters who will elect 167 representatives from 1,800 candidates.

Amongst the upheaval and uncertainty, at least one factor has remained a constant in Venezuelan politics for over a decade: the continued advancement and improved deployment of e-voting technology.

Indeed, even though more than 14,000 polling stations will be open and millions of ballots will be cast on December 6, the official results will likely be available and reported within just a few hours of the polls closing. This is because of the 100% automated voting platform, from voter registration to the electronic capture of the ballot on a direct-recording e-voting machine, from the tabulation of results to the proclamation of the successful candidates. Electronic voting can bring about incredible benefits when it comes to complex elections of this type and the expedient and secure reporting of the results is just one of them.

After using electronic counting for six years, Venezuelan moved to electronic voting in 2004. From the 13 elections that took place between 2004 and 2013, a total of over 340 million votes were processed, over half a million voting machines were deployed, nearly 300,000 operators were trained, and some 5,600 candidates were elected through this end-to-end voting infrastructure and system.

Throughout this experience, e-voting has played an integral role in improving the efficiency, security and effectiveness of the democratic process. Venezuela has held the most automated elections in Latin America.

Looking ahead to the December parliamentary elections, Venezuelans can fully expect this strong history and pedigree of successful e-voting will continue with the integrity of audits, the user-friendly experience of the voting machines and the remarkably expedient reporting of results.