So do I. Not as if we are a massive Country of 100 million people.
Minister Cullen was a waste of space as Minister. Can't think of one achievement that he can stand over. Did nothing in transport. Did nothing in Sport and Tourism. Did nothing in social affairs and did nothing in environment and local government. Sorry about his health but not sorry he has gone.
This wasn't a case of playing politics. It was a case of it being clear that the chosen system was just not going to work, and any purchase was going to be a waste of money.The government had got to a point where they'd done tests, were ready to put in the order for the machines, but it was becoming clear there were politically more and more reasons to not go ahead. Internationally limitations of e-voting were becoming clearer as more countries were investigating their use.
It is up to the Minister (like any Director of any organisation) to ensure that appropriate procedures and limits were in place about who gets to sign contracts and place orders.However what happened according to the book was the senior civil servants went ahead and signed the contracts - as was planned but without consulting the minister - who would have kicked in the delaying tactics.
Now the civil servants involved were doing their job, however the minister was allegedly annoyed since there'd be an expectation that at the levels of staff involved they'd be aware of political sensitivities and would have expected to have been made aware he was about to be backed into a corner.
Not true. You need a control mechanism to ensure that only people who have been checked in at the register get to vote. So you need (as was the case with Nedap machines) one person for each machine to enable it for each voter. This additional manpower (7,000 man-days) exceeds the manpower required for the count.In defense of e-voting potentially it could save money (if you assume every security and other issue was resolved) as you'd have no need to pay staff to count votes.
Quicker - So you reckon it is worth a state investment of €50m approx to have results on a Friday night instead of a Saturday night? What is the difference? Why is 'quicker' important here?
More accurate - What problems do we have with the accuracy of the current system (where every vote is counted in public scrutiny, with a pile of people checking the work of the counters)?
Dempsey initiated the project and ran the pilots in 2002. So the failures in publishing the full results of the initial tests and the pilots falls to him.I always thought Noel Dempsey was responsible for the e-voting machines.
That's why Meath was one of 3 constituencies which used the machines in the 2002 General Election.
But this still brings us back to the 'why?' question.I'll agree it's not worth €50m.
I still believe the right thing would be that everyone's vote should be capable of being recorded electronically with an appropriate audit trail established.
But this still brings us back to the 'why?' question.
But it is not more effecient. The saving on manpower for the count is outweighed by the extra manpower needed to control access to the machines during voting.Efficiency, it's pretty cool what you can do in a few seconds with a computer compared to what takes hours for hundreds of people to do.
But it is not more effecient. The saving on manpower for the count is outweighed by the extra manpower needed to control access to the machines during voting.
But it's not dogmatic to say 'we should have eVoting' when you have no clear vision of how this is going to work and what (if any) benefits would arise?
Come on man - give us the business case first, then come to your conclusion.
I've no idea what you're proposing here. Please explain it in non-technical terms. What is the barcode for? Who issues it? Who uses it? What does it identify?I've already overcome one of the problems you've preconceived by limiting access based on barcodes (I'm no techie).
I've no idea what you're proposing here. Please explain it in non-technical terms. What is the barcode for? Who issues it? Who uses it? What does it identify?
A unique pin or barcode could be used to ensure each person can only vote once. Polling cards could be issued with it. It is used for concert tickets, etc.
I've already said I'm not designing a system here. And I know you will keep antagonising me because of this.
Like I said you can believe what you want in terms of what can be achieved in the future.
Here's some reading for you, I have no further comment other than my genuine surprise that people think the notion of e-voting is preposterous
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voting
Just to be clear, I've never suggested that eVoting can't work. What I've said is that there is no business case for implementing eVoting in Ireland.
Indeed, and I've been pointing out the gaping holes in your touching aspiration for 'efficiency' - the gains are just not there.You replied to this by asking me why I believed e-voting would be desirable and I've engaged with you on this basis.
Indeed, and I've been pointing out the gaping holes in your touching aspiration for 'efficiency' - the gains are just not there.
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