Online voting system comes to market

The first commercial software for online voting was launched yesterday in the US. Its creator, Worldwide Election Systems, claims two-thirds of Americans would like the option to vote over the Internet.

The company has developed patent-pending software that generates secure Web pages where citizens can vote. While it is currently offering its Internet Voting System to local councils in the US, its backers hope to reach the US general elections next year.

Victor Babbitt, manager of the Internet voting project, told Silicon.com: "In the US, election equipment is purchased at the county level. It is a bit antiquated, to say the least." He added: "Florida is already considering changing its laws to allow for Internet voting. Although the product is suitable for home use, they want to install it in the polling stations to cut costs and improve accuracy."

The software sends users encoded HTML pages from a secure server, using 128bit secure socket layer encryption. People who choose to vote online register with an ID and password sent to them by their local jurisdiction.

In the UK, BT Wales is developing an infrastructure for online voting in time to elect a Welsh assembly next summer. But BT Wales' national manager, Ann Beynon, recently told Silicon.com: "The important thing is to build this partnership with government. It's not the technology that's the issue, it's the methodology - the way you work with government."

But Babbitt said US authorities had virtually no input into the development of his product. "If we come out with a product ourselves, we can create standards for it," he said.

Worldwide's Internet Voting System is currently being tested for security and functionality by the US federal government agency, ICA. "We expect to start selling by next spring," said Babbitt.