Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
As a way of making voting easier and thereby encouraging turnout, many
are exploring mechanisms for e-voting. Both the US and UK are currently
trialling e-voting systems, but in addition to public concerns about the se-
curity of online votes, pilots and trials have highlighted a number of us-
ability and accessibility problems of the different systems which have been
tested. Fig. 3.3 shows one example of a usability problem. The figure
shows a voter having difficulties with a machine clearly designed for a
much taller user.
To explore the potential for e-participation, a number of pilot projects
were set up in the UK. These pilots focused on three primary groups:
councilors, council staff, citizens and communities. Councilors were of-
fered e-petitioning services and online surgeries, in effect updating tradi-
tional techniques. Councils were provided with information on funding,
and with guidance on tactics and strategies for implementing e-democracy
in different types of authority. Tools and techniques were also provided to
implement programmes and to assess progress against a baseline of na-
tional public opinion research. Interfaces with citizens and communities
was mainly by websites and web portals offering information and access to
forums for discussion and e-petitioning. They also included SMS broad-
casting of local government activities, mobile phone games for young people
and development of e-democracy icons to make websites more accessible to
those with disabilities.
E-government services can enhance opportunities for citizens to debate
with each other, to engage with their local services and councils, to access
their political representatives and to hold them to account. They can also
support councillors in their executive, scrutiny and representative roles
(Office of the Deputy Prime Minister 2003). Many countries are investing
heavily in e-government initiatives. One aim of such initiatives is to make
government more accessible to citizens, but there are many examples
where this objective is not being achieved. A survey in 2004 of interactive
local council websites in the UK, for instance, found that of 23 websites
which offered citizens the capability to carry out transactions with local
authorities online, only one achieved a 'AAA' standard for accessibility,
(the highest rating according to the International World Wide Web Con-
sortium's Web Accessibility Initiative). Of the remainder, three achieved a
single 'A' rating and the other 19 websites were deemed not to meet the
W3 minimum accessibility criteria (Socitm 2004).
For new technologies to succeed in promoting democracy, serving the
democratic process, and in avoiding 'disenfranchisement by design' (King
Roth 1998), it is crucial that citizens are engaged in the planning and de-
sign of all aspects of e-voting and e-government. Although there is recog-
nition of this principle, it is not necessarily being effectively applied in
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