e-voting > Events

Past Events

“Should we trust electronic elections?”

Elected officials and their constituents need to be certain that the systems used in local, national and European elections are free and fair. When Government introduces new technologies into these electoral processes, public confidence in new systems is even more important. Yet chaotic scenes associated with e-voting and e-counting damaged confidence in both the process and results of our elections.

The Open Rights Group, a grassroots technology organisation who acted as official observers for the May 2007 electronic voting and counting pilots, invite party conference delegates to come and hear short presentations from front-bench MPs and the Electoral Commission representatives, followed by a debate on the issues surrounding electronic elections.

ORG fringe event at Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference 2007

When: 13.00 – 14.00, Sunday 16 September 2007
Where: Glyndebourne 2, Holiday Inn Hotel
Panel: Jason Kitcat, Jon Pugh MP and Tom Hawthorn (Electoral Commission)

Supporter meetup: 16.00, Sunday 16 September at The Black Lion, 14 Black Lion St Brighton, BN1 1ND, UK

Audio recordings: Ogg Vorbis and MP3

ORG fringe event at Labour Party Annual Conference 2007

When: 20:00 – 23:00, Wednesday 26 September 2007
Where: Bay View Suite, De Vere Royal Bath Hotel
Panel: Alun Michael MP (Invited), Andrew Scallan (Electoral Commission) and Jason Kitcat

Supporter meetup: 18.30, Thursday 27 September at The Inferno, 38 Holdenhurst Rd, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH8 8AD

Audio recordings: Ogg Vorbis and MP3

ORG fringe event at Conservative Party Conference 2007

When: 19.30 – 21.00, Tuesday 2 October 2007
Where: New Victorian Bar, Winter Gardens
Panel: Jonathan Djanogly MP, Andrew Scallan (Electoral Commission) and Jason Kitcat

Supporter meetup: 19.00, Monday 1 October, at The Saddle Inn , 286, Whitegate Drive, Blackpool FY3 9PH

Audio recordings: Ogg Vorbis and MP3

Green Party

Not an ORG event, but Jason will be presenting

When: Friday 14 September (TBC)
Where: Liverpool Hope University (TBC)

Launch of Report into e-voting and e-counting at the 3 May elections

Update!: The line-up for this event has now changed. Harri Hursti, computer security expert and star of Hacking Democracy, will give the keynote address.

  • When: 6.30pm, 20 June 2007
  • Where: The Royal Academy of Engineering, 29 Great Peter Street, London SW1P 3LW

The Open Rights Group fielded a 25-strong team of officially accredited Election Observers to authorities using e-counting and e-voting technologies in 3 May elections in England and Scotland. This event is the official launch of the report of their findings.

Speakers:

  • Jason Kitcat, ORG e-voting campaign coordinator
  • Dr Anne-Marie Oostveen, Research Fellow, Oxford Internet Institute
  • Rop Gonggrijp, co-founder “We don’t trust voting computers”

The event will include a drinks reception and an opportunity to debate further with MPs, speakers and experts. To attend, please email Michael (michael[at]openrightsgroup[dot]org).

The Open Rights Group and the Foundation for Information Policy Research held the following events in February:

Free screening: Hacking Democracy

  • When: 7pm, 6 February 2007
  • Where: Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre, Wilkins Building, University College, London

HBO’s screening of Hacking Democracy days before the 2006 US mid-term elections blew up a storm of activism around the many failings of e-voting. The film’s portrayal of supplier dishonesty and undetectable system hacks sent shockwaves through the US political system. We hope to spark similar engagement in the UK.

The event consisted of a rare UK screening of this film followed by a panel discussion with the film’s co-directors Simon Ardizzone and Russell Michaels along with MPs from each of the UK’s major political parties.

Watch footage from the event here.

European e-Voting Activism Workshop - Sharing & Learning across Europe

  • When: 2-5pm Thursday 8 February
  • Where: Windeyer Lecture Theatre 4, University College, London

Governments around the world are increasingly drawn towards e-voting, despite the significant problems that have arisen in a number of elections. Mistakes made in one country are often repeated in another. This workshop, chaired by Jason Kitcat, brought together e-voting experts from around Europe and the US to share knowledge, ideas and experiences.

The workshop included:

  • Short country status reports from e-voting experts
  • A keynote address from Harri Hursti
  • Discussion of the roles of existing European umbrella organisations such as EFVE and EDRI
  • Development of an action plan on how to nurture European co-operation

Kommer Kleijn’s ‘E-Voting in Belgium’ presentation
Ulrich Wiesner’s ‘Status Quo Germany’ presentation
Joe Kiniry’s ‘Research Group Summary’ presentation

e-Voting: A challenge to democracy?

  • When: 6-8pm, Thursday 8 February
  • Where: Sir David Davies Lecture Theatre, University College, London

Governments around the world are conducting elections using e-voting machines, websites and even text messages. But democracy isn’t as simple as Strictly Come Dancing, or the X factor. What attracts governments to e-voting? And what benefits and problems have they found?

This event brought together noted experts from Europe and the US to talk about their experiences so far, including problems in the US that may have led to thousands of votes going missing in 2006’s congressional elections. Speakers included:

Watch footage from the event here.

Back to e-voting > Main