21 Nov 2014

No guarantee online voting safe from hackers

7:07 pm on 21 November 2014

The working group recommending carrying out a pilot study into online voting at local government elections says there is no guarantee the system would not be hacked and open to fraud.

Kiwiblog blogger David Farrar

Kiwiblog blogger David Farrar Photo: SUPPLIED

The study would involve a small council at the next local government elections in 2016, however the government has yet to decide whether to proceed with it.

One of those on the group, the blogger and IT expert, David Farrar, spoke at a conference organised by Internet New Zealand in Christchurch today.

Mr Farrar said while the technical advice said there was a risk of hacking, no system was perfect, including the current postal voting system.

He said there were plenty of examples of ballots going missing or being doctored under the current system, and moving online would increase the scale of any possible fraud.

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