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Use of the
System
1. Will e-voting schemes
deepen the "digital divide"?
2. How long
will it take to vote ?
3. To what
extent will disabled or handicapped people use the CyberVote system ?
4. Will it be
possible to vote by email ?
5. What kind
of personal equipment (fixed and mobile platforms) will I need to vote
through Internet at home ?
6. Will there
be some public places to vote via Internet ?
7. Will it be
possible to vote at any time of day ?
8. Will it be
possible to vote outside my country ?
9. What
happens if I do not want to vote via Internet ?
See also
the frequently asked questions on :
Legal
Aspects
Use of mobile phones
Security and cryptology
Commercial and marketing
Will
e-voting schemes deepen the "digital divide"?
CyberVote will offer an
alternative to traditional voting to allow people who cannot go the
polling station to cast their vote over the
Internet. As such, CyberVote will fill the "voting divide" which
currently exists between people who can effectively go to the polling station
and others who cannot.
Finally, e-voting could
contribute to solve the "digital divide". Politicians could
decide to distribute voting terminals that will not only allow people to vote for free
via the Internet but could also be used for other purpose (electronic
commerce, Web surfing, etc). One would note that this is Minitel approach that was
distributed for free and which allowed a free consultation of phone
directory. Other services were payable / chargeable.
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How
long will it take to vote ?
Voting via an e-voting
system such as CyberVote will require less time than it is required with
paper-ballot elections.
First, by being able to
vote from home or from any place with mobile device, the voter will save
all the time necessary to go to and come back
from the polling station and no queueing at the polling station. Then, the
actual voting procedure including authentication
of the voter, cast of the vote, etc. should again take less time than with
a traditional election.
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To
what extent will disabled or handicapped people use the CyberVote system ?
One of the main social
objectives of CyberVote is to design a system that will allow people with
reduced mobility (e.g. disabled people, elderly people,
patients in hospitals) to express their vote without the need to go the
polling station. Further work (not covered in the
CyberVote project) should address an universal access to e-voting.
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Will
it be possible to vote by email ?
Voting by email will not
be allowed by the CyberVote system. E-mail is one of the communication
channels that can be used to send encrypted ballots from the voting client
to the voting server. But usually it is easier to use a TCP/IP connection
between the voting server and the voting client.
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What
kind of personal equipment (fixed and mobile platforms) will I need to
vote through Internet at home ?
Public infrastructure
will be set up to allow voters to cast their vote from public places.
As an alternative, the
voter will be able to use his/her own equipment (PC, PDA, SmartPhone),
provided that it can be connected to the Internet.
All Personal computers
running Web browsers which supports JAVA could be used. A computer with at
least 233 Mhz processor and 32 Mo system memory should be able to vote via
Internet. Furthermore it is expected that all new PCs bought in 2001 or
later will support e-voting.
Read also (*).
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Will
there be some public places to vote via Internet ?
The CyberVote project
aims at demonstrating a prototype of an e-voting system. If such a system
were to be used frequently or in legally binding elections, it is highly
recommanded that polling booths be set up in various public places.
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Will
it be possible to vote at any time of day ?
As for traditional
elections, voting via Internet will have to follow regulations defining
the e-voting procedure. Such regulations will have to specify the period during
which e-voters will be able to cast their vote. This period could spread
over multiple days allowing to vote even at night or to be limited to a
couple of hours.
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Will
it be possible to vote outside my country ?
Voting with a system like
CyberVote will be possible from any fixed or mobile Internet device no
matter the geographic location. As a result, one can vote while being outside of
his/her country either for personal or professional reasons.
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What
happens if I do not want to vote via Internet ?
Internet voting is
proposed as an alternative and not as a substitute to traditional voting.
Voters going to the polling station will be able to cast a paper ballot.
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See also
the frequently asked questions on :
Legal
Aspects
Use of mobile phones
Security and cryptology
Commercial and marketing
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