iVote scrapped for 2023 NSW election

I always suspected iVote wasn’t going to work for the council elections given the relatively late decision to adopt it and the sheer number of complex ballot paper designs that needed to be implemented. Failing to anticipate the surge of demand from voters who would vote absentee at other elections, or who couldn’t access other voting options that were reduced as Covid safety measures highlights how far short of the required resources to make a system like that work as intended they were. The fact that potentially significant problems were encountered at the last two state elections should’ve been a clear warning that getting iVote to work for the council elections would be a much greater task.

I mentioned after the 2015 election that one thing that should’ve been addressed with iVote, and needs to be a consideration for any future technology-assisted voting system, is that trying to replicate the layout of printed ballot papers isn’t necessary and appeared to add needless difficulty to the online voting process. For example, groups could be listed with expanding tabs if voters wish to choose below-the-line candidates, and voters could also be free to preference a mix of groups and below-the-line candidates, because the system could automatically display a below-the-line preference for each candidate in a group if a voter selects a whole group but then wishes to add a preference for an individual candidate from another group.

A system like iVote certainly had its advantages for those groups of voters who can’t readily access other forms of voting. There are options for all those groups, but they are inferior: Telephone voting services aren’t private, braille ballot papers can be an option for some low vision voters, but slow postal services are a major problem for remote and overseas voters. It is interesting that other jurisdictions haven’t taken up a concept like iVote for those groups, and perhaps the best way forward would be for the AEC and the state electoral commissions to pool their resources to develop a common platform.

Ideally we want people to vote at polling places if they can, because we’re able to deliver a safe and private setting for people to cast their votes. For absent voting, I think it is understandable we don’t offer it at council elections because it hasn’t been feasible to have hundreds of different ballot papers on hand, and we know there are regular problems with it at state and federal elections, so I’d like to see a form of technology-assisted voting that can take place at polling places and pre-poll centres for at least that specific purpose of enabling access to out-of-area ballot papers.

2 COMMENTS

Nick C March 17, 2022 at 10:57 am

I always suspected iVote wasn’t going to work for the council elections given the relatively late decision to adopt it and the sheer number of complex ballot paper designs that needed to be implemented. Failing to anticipate the surge of demand from voters who would vote absentee at other elections, or who couldn’t access other voting options that were reduced as Covid safety measures highlights how far short of the required resources to make a system like that work as intended they were. The fact that potentially significant problems were encountered at the last two state elections should’ve been a clear warning that getting iVote to work for the council elections would be a much greater task.

I mentioned after the 2015 election that one thing that should’ve been addressed with iVote, and needs to be a consideration for any future technology-assisted voting system, is that trying to replicate the layout of printed ballot papers isn’t necessary and appeared to add needless difficulty to the online voting process. For example, groups could be listed with expanding tabs if voters wish to choose below-the-line candidates, and voters could also be free to preference a mix of groups and below-the-line candidates, because the system could automatically display a below-the-line preference for each candidate in a group if a voter selects a whole group but then wishes to add a preference for an individual candidate from another group.

A system like iVote certainly had its advantages for those groups of voters who can’t readily access other forms of voting. There are options for all those groups, but they are inferior: Telephone voting services aren’t private, braille ballot papers can be an option for some low vision voters, but slow postal services are a major problem for remote and overseas voters. It is interesting that other jurisdictions haven’t taken up a concept like iVote for those groups, and perhaps the best way forward would be for the AEC and the state electoral commissions to pool their resources to develop a common platform.

Ideally we want people to vote at polling places if they can, because we’re able to deliver a safe and private setting for people to cast their votes. For absent voting, I think it is understandable we don’t offer it at council elections because it hasn’t been feasible to have hundreds of different ballot papers on hand, and we know there are regular problems with it at state and federal elections, so I’d like to see a form of technology-assisted voting that can take place at polling places and pre-poll centres for at least that specific purpose of enabling access to out-of-area ballot papers.
LJ Davidson March 22, 2022 at 12:59 pm

Better get the Kiama by-election page ready Ben
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/gareth-ward-charged-over-historical-allegations-of-sexual-assault-20220322-p5a6tq.html

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