Editorial: Online voting is inevitable, just not yet

Katie Holland.

It's a pity security concerns around the proposed online voting trial have led to it being shelved - for now.

Associate Local Government Minister Louise Upston made the call this week, saying it was too early to go ahead, due to concerns about vote integrity.

I am all for anything that makes it easier to vote, especially if it encourages wider participation in elections.

(Though, in saying that, I do fear for the younger generations if getting a pen, ticking a box, putting a form in a pre-paid, pre-addressed envelope and chucking it in a post box next time they pass, is all just too much effort. I can be lazy, but, even for me, that's hardly taxing.)

But, if there was even the slightest concern from the experts that the elections' integrity could have been compromised by the use of online voting, delaying the trial was the only option.

Steve Kilpatrick, the managing director of electionz.com, said yesterday he was disappointed and confused by the decision - pointing to successful online elections his company had run for Fonterra and other organisations.

His disappointment is understandable, as is that of Rotorua Lakes Council which spent $31,000 and put in a lot of ground work to ready itself for the trial.

Of course, whether they should have spent that money before getting the nod from the Government is another matter.

Hopefully, as council governance and partnerships manager Oonagh Hopkins says, that won't have gone to waste but will put us ahead of the game when the trial inevitably comes up for consideration again. Because online voting is inevitable.

Democracy is a privilege others don't have and the integrity of elections is not something we can take risks with.

The experts now have more time to get it right, and I look forward to casting my vote for the Rotorua mayor from my smart phone in 2019.