NSW election sets online voting record

The recent New South Wales state election set a new world record for the largest number of online votes cast in a government-binding election, with 280,000 of the state’s residents voting online.

The state government’s iVote system was open to voters who were vision impaired, had disabilities or literacy needs, live more than 20 km from a polling place or were outside of NSW on election day. The system could be used via computer, smartphone or telephone.

With 280,000 people making use of the system, the election beat the previous record in France, which saw 240,000 online votes submitted.

The 2015 NSW election meanwhile saw a 500% increase in online votes cast compared to the state’s 2011 election.

“The staggering increase in voters using the iVote system demonstrates that confidence and demand for secure and verifiable online voting systems is growing despite ill-intended efforts to discredit its integrity,” NSW Electoral Commissioner Colin Barry noted.

Online voting vendor Scytl provided the technological support for the iVote system. The company’s security framework allowed the iVote system to let NSW residents verify their votes before submitting them, and up until 6 pm on election day, to safeguard against tampering attacks.

Image courtesy of alan jones under CC