The fundamental purpose for the introduction of the new electronic voting and counting system is to improve the efficiency, speed, accuracy and user friendliness of Irish elections. While the manual voting system has served us well over the years, it is necessary to consider what improvements can be made, especially for the voter, and how the availability of new technologies can be used to further develop and modernise an electoral system which largely employs practices dating back to the 19th century.

The new electronic voting and counting system will provide a higher level of service to the public by improving accuracy, flexibility and speed in the voting and counting processes, and making greater use in electoral administration of modern information and communication technologies. It will, in all the above respects, represent a significant improvement on the current manual voting and counting arrangements.

The Nedap-Powervote system has already been proven in the Netherlands over the past 15 years and in a number of cities in Germany and France. It has been adapted, improved, tested and successfully piloted at two polls in Ireland. To date, over 400,000 Irish people have used the system in real polls, and their response has been overwhelmingly positive.