Electronic voting will not be developed further on the current basis

The Cabinet discussed the potential further development of electronic voting in its cabinet evening session on 13 January. It decided that the development of electronic voting at polling stations will not be continued for the meantime, but instead the current election system will be maintained. At the same time, close attention will be paid to the development of electronic voting in international arenas.

Technical functionality of the current election system is mainly trouble-free, and the system is regarded as reliable. In light of the gained experiences, the overall advantages of the electronic voting at polling stations are not so significant that they would prompt further development of the system.

If it is decided, based on the international experiences, that development of electronic voting will be continued alongside traditional voting, the development will most likely be concentrated on voting via Internet. Internet voting is easier and more flexible than traditional voting, which might increase the turnout in the elections.

As for Internet voting, however, standpoints towards questions relating to the secrecy of the ballot and electoral freedom remain to be established.

If a decision on launching a pilot project on Internet voting will be made, the piloting could take place in the municipal elections of 2016 at the earliest. The timetable depends on the possibilities to construct a secure system with open source code.

Further information: Jussi Aaltonen, Ministerial Adviser, tel. +358 50 573 1732, Tiina Astola, Permanent Secretary, tel. +358 9 1606 7502, Johanna Hautakorpi, Political Adviser, tel. +358 9 1606 7506, Ministry of Justice