Actual Online Voting Is Now A Reality – But In European Elections

Estonia was crippled by cyberattacks on government networks during a dispute with Russia in 2007. Today tiny tech-savvy nation is so certain of its cyber defenses that it is only country in world to allow internet voting for entire electorate, in every election, and thousands have alrey done so ahe of elections to European Parliament. 

Internet voting — or i-voting —has been available since 2005 in nation that gave world Skype, and percent of voters using internet to cast ballots has increased with each election, reaching 44% of voters in national election in March. 

Linda Lainvoo was one of first Estonians to vote in European Parliament election, which she did from a cafe before heing to work Thursday morning. 32-year-old civil servant has voted online since she was first eligible to vote. 

“I couldn’t imagine my life any different,” Lainvoo said after logging into a secure online portal with her ID card and a PIN code. “I do everything online so I don’t have to stand in queues and do things on paper.” 

After downloing an app and identifying herself, she viewed electoral lists inside a virtual “voting booth” and selected her candidate. 

elections are taking place from May 23-26 across 28-member bloc to fill 751-seat European Parliament, where Estonia, a nation of just 1.3 million, has six representatives. 

It took Lainvoo about 30 seconds to vote and by time she h finished, around 2,000 ors in Estonia h also voted. 

Estonia’s i-voting system runs from 10th until fourth day before election and allows people to cast multiple ballots, with only last vote counting. This aims to prevent voter coercion. 

Young, tech-savvy males me up bulk of i-voters in first few elections, according to he of Estonia’s Electoral Office, Priit Vinkel. But after four elections it “diffused in electorate and we can’t say who  i-voter is. Any eligible voter can be an i-voter.” 

electoral commission’s research shows internet voting significantly increases turut for Estonians abro and for people living more than 30 minutes away from a polling station. 

While it’s hard to quantify impact of i-voting on overall turut numbers, Vinkel says it’s a “sticky voting method” that has “stopped alienation,” meaning a majority of people who have voted online at least once keep voting electronically and are more likely than aver voters to keep voting at all. 

When Estonia broke away from Soviet Union and declared its independence nearly three deces ago it embarked on a modernization program that including going digital early on. country has introduced a high-tech national ID system in which physical ID cards are linked to digital signatures that citizens use t only to vote, but to pay taxes and access health and school records. 

But re have been vulnerabilities. 

In 2007, a massive cyber-attack crippled country’s networks following a dispute with Russia over Estonia’s removal of a Soviet-era war memorial in Tallinn. unprecedented scale of attack forced governments worldwide to reconsider importance of network security and defense. 

Estonia, which borders Russia, took time to build security and privacy into its model. It created a platform that supports electronic auntication and digital signatures to enable paperless communications, in contrast with failed efforts by private companies to provide secure online voting systems in United States, for example. 

architect of Estonia’s i-voting system, Arne Ansper, compares it to postal voting. An external envelope verifies identity of voter — a digital signature for internet voting — which is n stripped from ballot, leaving an anymous internal envelope guaranteeing secrecy of vote. This envelope is n decrypted at end of election. 

Transparency and security have been built into system by allowing people to verify that ir vote has been tallied correctly, while a third-party system creates logs that are compared to results of ballot boxes and which would reveal any discrepancies. 

role played by social media and fake accounts used to spre fake news in 2016 U.S. election has also forced governments to reassess electoral interference. 

“Trust is paramount factor in making sure that Internet-based voting actually takes place,” said Tonu Tammer from government ncy in charge of security of Estonia’s computer networks. 

Tammer says his organization is continuously monitoring and apting to possible threats to  system, but says re are greater risks than an internet attack. 

“ biggest concern when it comes to trust is dissemination of false news,” he said, explaining that it’s easier to erode trust by claiming electoral fraud than actually carrying out a successful attack. 

On Friday, European Commission criticized social media giants Facebook, Google and Twitter for t doing eugh to fight disinformation ahe of EU elections. 

But with more than 82,500 people having alrey voted online by Monday, it seems trust is still strong. 

Back in Tallinn cafe, Lainvoo closes her laptop and prepares to leave for office. 

“I’m t an IT person, but I trust ir expertise, and I also trust my state,” she said. 

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