Internet voting pilot to be discontinued

The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation has decided to discontinue further internet voting pilot projects. Such pilots were carried out during the parliamentary elections in 2011 and 2013.

“There has been political disagreement about the pilots, and the Storting has discussed the issue on several occasions. The Government wants to make sure that the voters’ high confidence in the Norwegian electoral process is safeguarded, and believes that political discord relating to the implementation of elections is unfortunate,” says Minister of Local Government and Modernisation Jan Tore Sanner.

The pilot projects carried out in 2011 and 2013 have provided interesting and valuable knowledge and experience. As there is no broad political desire to introduce internet voting, the Government has concluded that it will would be inappropriate to spend time and money on further pilot projects. 

The Institute for Social Research evaluated the pilot project in 2013, and the report will be published on www.valg.no. The report shows that the voters have limited knowledge about the security mechanisms in the system. This is knowledge that affects the pilots’ premise of free and fair elections.

“This shows how important it is that elections are conducted at polling stations where election officials make sure that the principle of free and fair elections and the secrecy of the vote is respected,” says Sanner.

• Internet elections - What do the voters do and think? English summary (pdf)
• Internettvalg - Hva gjør og mener velgerne? Report in Norwegian (pdf)

Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation press telephone: +47 22 24 25 00.