News item | 27-06-2022 | 4:00 pm
The Electoral Council will be responsible for the management and security of the software used to support the calculation and determination of election results. This is stated in the bill on election results software that Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations Hanke Bruins Slot presented to the House of Representatives today. The use of the software made available by the Electoral Council will also be mandatory. Establishing the responsibilities and requirements for the results software contributes to a reliable and efficient determination of the election results.
In the bill, the Electoral Council, the municipalities that provide the ICT facilities and those who enter the results in the software are given clear responsibilities and powers for the management, connection and use of the software. The Electoral Council thus becomes responsible for the availability, reliable operation and security of the result software. At present, the municipalities themselves are responsible for installing and managing the software. With the introduction of the bill, the Electoral Council, as administrator, can draw up regulations for connection and use and the Electoral Council can ensure compliance with those regulations.
Development of new software
At the same time as this bill, the Electoral Council is working on the development of new software. The Electoral Council has been instructed to do this on 2 May awarded† The basic principle of this new software is that the software is hosted in a central environment via a closed network. This allows the Electoral Council to monitor the use of the program and take timely measures if irregularities are found. The present bill regulates the responsibilities and powers of the Electoral Council in this regard.
Voting will continue to take place via the paper ballot and red pencil. After the vote, the members of the polling stations count the ballot papers manually and record the results on a paper official report. To arrive at an election result, the results of all polling stations are added together, using the results software. The official reports of the polling stations, the counting and the digital counting files are made public, so that anyone who wants to can check this process.
Electoral Council as electoral authority
The Dutch election process is seen as robust and reliable. However, this is not self-evident and requires continuous attention. Minister Bruins Slot: “There should be no doubt about the quality of the election process and the reliability of the election results. In order to monitor and promote this reliability and quality, the intention is to further strengthen the role of the Electoral Council in the election process. This bill is an important step in the development of the Electoral Council into an ‘election authority’.”