Seniors' association skeptical

Municipalities mobilize: New voting system needed

(Bild: APA/Eva Manhart)

The Association of Local Authorities is now campaigning for the introduction of e-voting as an alternative to voting by ballot. The reason for this is the bureaucratic effort involved in processing the voting card system. The Black Seniors' Association is skeptical. 

As Johannes Pressl (ÖVP), President of the Association of Municipalities, emphasized on Thursday, the "excesses" of the current voting card system should be reduced.

Voting booth another "central element"
However, voting in the polling booth should of course remain the "central element", Pressl stated at a press conference. Pressl did not want to commit himself definitively to the abolition of polling cards. In any case, they should be retained for people with health or social impairments or people with a low digital affinity.

(symbolic image)

(Bild: APA/Herbert Neubauer)

We are constantly thinking about how we can make elections simpler, less bureaucratic and more secure.

Gemeindebund-Präsident Johannes Pressl

Polling cards lead to high costs
The municipalities handle the majority of elections in Austria - most recently including the National Council elections. "We are constantly thinking about how we can make elections simpler, less bureaucratic and more secure," said the President of the Association of Municipalities. Recently, the cost of processing voting by polling card has increased further due to the higher volume of polling cards. Mailing alone costs around 11.5 million euros in postage, plus personnel costs of around 4.5 million euros.

There are also practical problems: the municipalities assume that around 15 percent of polling cards are not returned. In addition, there are more and more people who order polling cards but then cast their vote at their own polling station anyway - this is quite a time-consuming procedure for the electoral authorities.

The envelope of a polling card (symbolic image)

(Bild: APA/Roland Schlager)

Problems with Austrians living abroad
There are also problems for Austrians living abroad in remote areas. There is also the risk of invalid votes. "We see time and again that a ballot envelope is opened again and then taped shut again." In this case, the vote is invalid and the will of the voters is not taken into account.

E-voting as a practical alternative
E-voting would be a practical alternative here. For referendums, for example, 80 percent of declarations of support and signatures are already submitted via ID Austria. "This system works and is secure." In Estonia, around 60 percent already vote via e-voting, the rest vote in the polling booth.

Political scientist: start with test runs
Of course, e-voting cannot be introduced across the board in the next five years, said political scientist Kathrin Stainer-Hämmerle. But you could start with test runs, as is being done in some cantons in Switzerland, for example. There, this could be tested voluntarily - limited to certain municipalities or a certain number of votes or certain groups such as voters living abroad. Another important advantage of e-voting is that voters can revise their decision right up to election day - unlike with a ballot card that has already been sent in.

The ballot must not be reduced to a minor matter of quickly typing something into your cell phone.

Politologin Kathrin Stainer-Hämmerle

In any case, in addition to the basic technical requirements - for example, that the identity is securely established and yet the vote can be cast anonymously and without inference to the voting decision - attention must also be paid to the special nature of an election, says Stainer-Hämmerle. "The ballot must not be reduced to a minor matter of quickly typing something into your cell phone."

E-voting used for ÖH elections
In Austria, e-voting was last tested in an ÖH election in 2009 - shortly afterwards, however, the election regulations were overturned by the Constitutional Court. Among other things, the court found that it was not sufficiently precise as to how and by what means and under what criteria the electoral commission could check whether the system had functioned correctly.

In addition to e-voting, Pressl sees further potential for digitalization in elections, starting with the uniform entry of voting data. In addition, a lot of paper is still needed: one municipality reported to him that it had thrown away seven boxes of candidate lists. Pressl also sees the digitalization of elections as an opportunity for rural areas to bring other applications such as telemedicine or banking transactions to the people.

Seniors' Association warns: voting cards must remain an analog alternative
Seniors' Association leader Ingrid Korosec (ÖVP) commented on Pressl's proposals that the introduction of e-voting should not lead to the abolition of analog voting cards.

"Pressl cites Estonia as an example. There, however, votes can only be cast digitally or at a polling station," Korosec noted.

Postal voting is an important option, especially for older people. Every citizen has the right to vote. They must be able to exercise this right.

Seniorenbund-Präsidentin Ingrid Korosec (ÖVP)

If the option of an analogue polling card did not exist, older people in particular, who are often physically limited and at the same time not (yet) digitally savvy, would be discriminated against. "That's why the polling card option must remain," says Korosec. Postal voting is an important option, especially for older people.