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miss controverzial | 11.04.2002 10:23

online voteing could make a mockery of their elections.

UK to have national online voting by 2007
10/04/2002 Editor: Tamsin McMahon
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The UK’s e-envoy expects to have full-scale online voting by 2007, he said in an interview with vnunet.com.

While there are to be six electronic voting pilot projects during the May local elections, Andrew Pinder told the publication that the federal government would need to change the legislation to allow online ballots for national elections.

“There will be some technical issues around the pilots and that will have to be sorted out,” he said. “But I don't think that will be a real problem. The big issue is public confidence and whether they'll think it's all above board and fair.”

Pinder said UK is moving along in its plan to become the top destination for e-commerce by the end of 2002, saying the country’s dial-up internet access is the cheapest in the world.

He said the government needs to encourage more small companies to get online, but the country is far ahead of the US in other aspects of technology.

“We have better legislation than the US, and we have a better environment for mobile phones,” Pinder said. “On digital TV, despite its difficulties, we are better positioned for switching off (the analogue signal) than the US.”

Broadband rollout is also starting to improve in the UK, he said. While countries like Germany are beating the UK for high-speed internet, Pinder said Germany’s decision to give Deutsche Telekom a monopoly would hurt it in the long run. “I envy their results but not their methods, and they will pay for it because broadband prices are going up.”

Tamsin McMahon is assistant editor of Europemedia.net. She was most recently an education reporter and editor for the Peterborough Examiner. She has worked at daily papers in Toronto, Hamilton and Edmonton, as well as for The Canadian Press. Tamsin holds a journalism degree from Ryerson Polytechnic University.

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