News

EU tests kiosks to simplify voting across Europe

July 9, 2003

AVELLINO, Italy -- The first pilot tests of an electronic polling system has yielded success for an EU-funded remote polling system.

The project aims to simplify polling procedures for voters and administrative authorities across Europe, according to a story in Cordis News. Components of the system include a mobile polling kiosk with touchscreen and fingerprint scanner, a virtual ballot network and smart cards with voter data and fingerprints stored in memory.

The E-Poll project has partners from France, Italy and Poland, the story said. See related story, "U.K. voters back e-elections, poll shows."

To cast a vote using E-Poll, a voter visits a mobile polling kiosk and inserts a personalized smart card. A voting card then appears on the screen, which the voter fills in by touching one of the active buttons.

During the first pilot, voters in Avellino were asked to try to vote twice or try to vote using a smart card of another voter. In both instances, the system was capable of detecting and rejecting the votes, the story said.

The article did not disclose technology providers.