Advantages of Electronic Voting
Electronic voting presents numerous advantages over traditional paper ballot
voting. In the initial stage there will of course be significant costs for
planning, introduction and equipment. But in the long run and with a widespread
introduction, the electronic voting system will lead to many cost savings.
The advantages of an electronic voting system can be divided into advantages
for the voters and advantages for the authorities.
Advantages of electronic voting for the voters
Electronic voting speeds up the voting process, especially where advance
voting is concerned. After voting in the polling booth, voters no longer have to
go to the election official to have their ballots stamped and wait until the
election official has made an entry in the voting register to record that they
have voted. Similarly, when voting on election day, voters no longer have to
wait for their ballots to be stamped or drop them into the ballot box.
Electronic voting will also increase the security and reliability of
elections. An electronic vote is transported safely, reliably and fast into the
centralized electronic ballot box. When electronic voting has been introduced on
a wider scale to cover the whole country, it may be possible vote at any polling
station, regardless of domicile, even on election day. Further, in electronic
voting it is not possible to make voting errors by mistake, because the
identification information of the chosen candidate will appear on the screen
before the vote is confirmed.
Another advantage for the voter is that there is no ambiguity in interpreting
an electronic vote. When traditional paper ballots are used, unclear numbers may
sometimes cause problems.
Advantages of electronic voting for the authorities
Electronic voting reduces and simplifies the work of the authorities
significantly. Electronic voting leads to notable cost savings through reduced
personnel, especially in the advance voting. For instance the following
functions are no longer needed in electronic voting:
* stamping the ballot and sealing the ballot in the election envelope
* filling in the covering letter
* making the entries in the voting register
* sending the voting documents to the central municipal electoral board
* examining the documents at the central municipal electoral board
* transportation of the election envelopes to the constituency electoral
board (not in municipal elections)
* opening the envelopes and counting the votes
* separate registration of the election result in the election information
system.
Electronic voting will deliver also other cost savings. For example various
envelopes, forms and documents are no longer needed.
Electronic votes can be counted fast and reliably, and the result of the vote
will be ready almost immediately.