By Areeq Chowdhury. In 2005, the European Court of Human Rights declared that the UK's blanket ban on prisoners voting in elections was illegal and violated human rights. A 12-year stand-off ensued and the UK Government came to a compromise allowing those on temporary release and at home under curfew to vote in elections. But … Continue reading Judges should decide which prisoners can retain the right to vote
Aberdeen City Council has put out a procurement notice inviting bids for a contract to provide an online voting platform for elections. Alongside tenders for postal voting services and electronic counting, the Scottish local authority is seeking the provision of e-voting solutions including: Internet voting Electronic voting within polling stations Electronic voting with touch screen … Continue reading Aberdeen City Council begin tender process for an online voting platform
In response to a letter coordinated by WebRoots Democracy, the Scottish Government Minister for Parliamentary Business, Joe Fitzpatrick MSP, reaffirmed their commitment to undertaking pilots of electronic voting. Our letter, co-signed by more than 30 leading academics and charity bosses, called upon the Scottish Government to "stay true to their commitment" to pilot online voting … Continue reading Scottish Government: E-voting pilots will go ahead
Online voting will 'inject a new lease of life' into democracy argues SNP MSP, Ruth Maguire, during a debate in the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Government is consulting on the reform, following its commitment to pilot the technology. Speaking in favour of the reform, Maguire said: "We can all agree that democracy works only when … Continue reading MSP: Online voting will ‘inject a new lease of life’ into Scotland’s democracy
The Scottish Government has launched a public consultation on electronic voting, including remote online voting, and said it 'plans to trial' the technology in future elections. Writing in the foreword of the consultation paper, Minister for Parliamentary Business, Joe Fitzpatrick MSP, said the way we run elections 'has remained unchanged for over 100 years' and … Continue reading Scottish Government commits to trials of online voting for elections
The Scottish Government are to launch a consultation on democratic reform which will include the potential of remote online voting in elections. Speaking at an event at Edinburgh University, Minister for Parliamentary Business, Joe Fitzpatrick MSP called for reform of a voting system "unchanged since Victorian times." The all-day conference, entitled 'Scotland's Democratic Future: Exploring … Continue reading Scotland poised to solve ‘beautiful problem’ of online voting
After a passionate, heated and tightly-run two-year campaign, over 665,000 registered voters did not cast a vote in the Scottish independence referendum. This represents over 15% of the 4 million Scottish people that registered to vote and is a number that could have changed the result to a 'Yes' victory. The turnout of 84.5% sets a … Continue reading Why did over half a million registered voters not turn out in the Scottish #indyref?
