Directorate General of Political Affairs

Project “Good Governance in the Information Society”

Direction Générale des Affaires Politiques
Projet « Bonne gouvernance dans la société de l’Information »

GGIS(2006)1E Fin.

Strasbourg, 23 November 2006

Meeting to Review developments in the field of e-voting since the adoption of Recommendation Rec(2004)11 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on legal, operational and technical standards for e-voting

Strasbourg, Palais de l’Europe, Room 10
23-24 November 2006

Opening of the meeting: Thursday, 23 November at 9.30 am
Closing of the meeting: Friday, 24 November at 5 pm
Programme
(including links to presentations)

Thursday, 23 November

9.30 am Opening session

Opening of the meeting by the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Ms Maud de Boer Buquicchio

Introduction of participants

Background and objectives of the meeting – Introductory statement by the Secretariat

10.15 am First Session: E-voting initiatives and good practice in member states

Chair: Mr José-Manuel Rodriguez, Ministry of Public Administration, Spain, Chairman of the Multidisciplinary Ad-Hoc Group on legal, operational and technical standards for e-enabled voting (IP1-S-EE, 2003-2004)

Switzerland:
Ms Nadja Braun, Swiss Federal Chancellery, Head of e-voting project: An evaluation of Swiss e-voting Pilot Projects and how to proceed

Estonia:

Ms Epp Maaten, Councillor of the elections department

Chancellery of the Riigikogu: The nationwide e-voting pilot at the Estonian local elections in 2005

France:
Mr Marc Pichon de Vendeuil, Deputy Head of the Office for Elections and Political Studies, Ministry of the Interior and Spatial Planning: The e-voting Pilot for expatriate voters in June 2006

11 – 11.30 am Coffee break

The Netherlands:
Ms Susanne Caarls, Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations: The e-voting Pilot for expatriate voters in November 2006

Russian Federation:
Mr Victor V. Yashchenko, Head of the Federal Center of Information Technologies under the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation: Report on the application of Information technologies in the Russian Federation 2004-2006

Sweden:
Mr Marcus Brixskiöld, Director, Division for democratic issues and Human Rights, Ministry of Justice: The role of local governments with regard to pilot projects on e-consultation, with a view to using e-voting in referendums

Progress reports from other Council of Europe member states

Discussion

1 pm Lunch break

2.30 pm Second Session: Reports from relevant recent events

Chair: Mr Michael Remmert, Head of the “Good Governance in the Information Society” project, Council of Europe

Mr Alexander Trechsel, Professor at the European University Institute: Conference on e-Voting: Lessons learnt and future challenges, Tallinn,
27-28 October 2006

Mr Robert Krimmer, Competence Centre for Electronic Voting and Participation, Austria: Second International Workshop on e-voting, Castle Hofen near Bregenz/Austria, 2-4 August 2006

Mr Thomas Buchsbaum, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Austria, Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on e-democracy (CAHDE): The potential of ICT to facilitate public participation in addition to electoral processes

Discussion

3.30 pm Coffee Break

4 pm – 5pm Third session: Assessing the scope of e-voting in Council of Europe member states

United Kingdom:

Mr Paul Docker, Department of Constitutional Affairs: Developments with regard to e-voting and e-counting in the UK

Norway:

Ms Marianne Riise, Senior Advisor, Ministry for Local and Regional Government: The report on the scope of e-voting in elections

Discussion

5.30 pm Reception offered by the Director General of Political Affairs, Blue Restaurant of the Council of Europe

Friday, 24 November

9.30 am Third session continued

Finland:
Mr Jukka Leino, Project Manager, Ministry of Justice/ICT Service Centre:

The Finnish law on e-voting pilots adopted by Parliament in October 2006

Germany:
Ms Gabriele Roth, Federal Ministry of the Interior:

The current discussion in Germany with regard to e-voting

Lithuania:

Mr Jonas Udris, Central Electoral Commission:
the Lithuanian draft law on e-voting

Contributions from other Council of Europe member states

Discussion

10.45 am Coffee break

11.15 am Fourth session: Technical issues

Chair: Mr Michel Warynski, Head of the Geneva e-voting Project, Chancellery of the Republic and Canton of Geneva, Switzerland, Chairman of the Technical sub-group of IP1-S-EE (EE-S-TS, 2003-2004)

Mr Herbert Leitold, Secure Information Technology Center, Graz, Austria: Overview of technical developments

Mr Gerhard Skagestein, Norway (awarded prize for best paper at Bregenz e-voting Workshop 2006): Increasing trust in remote e-voting

Mr John Borras, UK, OASIS: EML (Election Markup Language) and other technical aspects

Ms Melanie Volkamer, German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence, Saarbrücken: The Project on “Protection Profiles for e-voting systems”

Discussion

12.30 pm Lunch

2 pm Fifth session: Activities and projects by International Organisations and other stakeholders

Chair: Ms Kucsko-Stadlmayer, Austria, European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission)

Mr Jean-François Junger, European Commission, DG INFSO: The e-poll and e-Ten initiatives, Mr. Fabio Perossini of the e-poll project

Mr Gerald Mitchell, Head of the OSCE/ODIHR Election Department: Towards standards for the Observation of e-enabled elections

Ms Maria Gratschew, International IDEA: Electoral practice around the World on absentee voting

Mr Jenö Szep, Association of European Election Officials (ACEEEO), Hungary: The contribution by ACEEEO to the discussion on e-voting

Discussion

3.15 pm Concluding session: Looking ahead - Future prospects and challenges, and the role of the Council of Europe

General Discussion

4.15 pm Press briefing