The Italian Minister of the Interior, Giulano Amato has announced that following pilots the government has decided not to pursue electronic voting any further.
“We decided to stop the electronic voting machine […] During the 2006 elections we experimented with the machines as a voting system, and not a system that counts the sections, without any reference to the legally valid votes. Now that we arrived at the point in which we decide to continue, passing from the experimental phase to the implementation, using the machines for the counting as well, it is obvious: we decided to stop. It is a suggestion that came from the ministerial offices, I presented it to Prodi expressing my opinion as well, the Premier agreed. It will be the triumph of our ancestors, but for someone of my generation it isn't unpleasant either. Let's stick to voting and counting physically because less easy to falsify” (Source)
This is fantastic news for Italians and for all of us around the world trying to prevent the introduction of e-voting. In the space of a month the Canadian province of Quebec has introduced an indefinite moratorium on e-voting, the Netherlands have withdrawn all of a specific model e-voting machine and now Italy have called a halt to e-voting. Is the tide turning?
Following up on the earlier claims that the Italian general election could have been rigged, the journalists behind the allegations are now being investigated for publishing false information. Whether the allegations themselves are being properly investigated isn't clear – there seems to be a lot of recrimination at the moment and little in the way of facts.
(Thanks to Emanuele and The Open Rights Group for the links)
Jason Kitcat 