CeBIT update: Vote is split on online elections

In a debate staged to discuss the advantages and risks inherent in online voting, Johann Hahlen, Germany's federal returning officer, raised concerns over security, stating that digital signatures could not safeguard the democratic process against corruption.

He also believes a premature roll out of largely unproven systems would threaten the smooth running of elections and create more problems than they solve. He said: "We won't be able to get away from voting slips and pencils that quickly."

Brigitte Zypries, Germany's deputy interior minister is in favour of introducing online voting in the near future but agrees it must be controlled, saying "we must establish the correct criteria for doing so", in order to avoid the problems feared by Hahlen.

All the participants at the debate agreed that the process needs to be kept simple and rolled out on a limited basis in order to test the systems thoroughly.

Germany is already setting the pace for the full scale uptake of online voting. In 1999 1.2 million people registered their vote online in Cologne - a figure that correlated with a decline in spoilt ballots.

By Asmira Veletanlic, http://www.silicon.de