Dear Readers!

It's election time! We and more over Internet elections have a turbulent time to come.

Besides the announcements of the Philipinnes and Hawaii, we will have
a major step stone in Estonia on March 4th. There we will see for the
first time a national election to feature Internet voting as a voting
channel. Furthermore this election will be observed by OSCE/ODIHR,
which will then be the first election observation mission of Internet
Voting.

Besides that the German GI will hold a working group meeting on Internet
Voting and the US E-Voting research center ACCURATE has issued its
2006 annual report.

And then I would like to thank you for your continued support of our
E-Voting.CC database. We have already received more than 50 documented
e-voting uses from around the world. Please continue submitting to
http://db.e-voting.cc.

Also I have good news from us - we have moved into a new office in the
19th district in Vienna. Please note therefore our new address and
phone numbers as you can find at the end of the newsletter.

Finally there are also two upcoming conferences that will deal with
new forms of voting and e-democracy in August 07 in Colorado and in
September 07 in Montreal.

This is it for now, hear you soon on the future of voting,

Robert Krimmer

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| Short News |

- Internet-Voting planned for Citizens of the Philipinnes in Singapore
- Hawaii plans Internet-Voting
- ACCURATE issues 2006 Annual Report
- German Gesellschaft für Informatik holds Working Group meeting on
E-Voting

| Upcoming E-Voting Uses |

- Estonia, 4th of March 2007

| Academic Articles |

- Success Factors of Geneva’s e-Voting System. Michel Chevallier, et.al.
- e-Voting in the UK: A Work in Progress. Mark Liptrott

| Conferences, CfP |

- E-Voting Minitrack at ICEG 2007
- E-Gov & E-Democracy Minitrack at AMCIS 2007

________________________________________________________________________

!!! Please note to copy both lines if links go over one line !!!


____| Internet-Voting planned for Citizens of Philipinnes |_____________


The Commission on Elections (Comelec) launched yesterday Internet voting
for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) with Singapore, which has 26,835
registered absentee voters, as the pilot area. The system to be used will
come from the Spanish company SCYTL.

Read more at http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2007/02/10/MAIN2007021086736.html
and about the process at
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=48562


____| Hawaii plans Internet-Voting |____________________________________

Not only the Philipinnes will hold trials for Internet-Voting but also
Hawaii will trial Internet-Voting for the neighborhood board elections in
Honolulu. The election will start on March 23rd.

Read more here http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070219/NEWS04/702190334/1001/


____| ACCURATE 2006 Annual Report |_____________________________________

The ACCURATE Center for Correct Usable Reliable Auditable and Transparent
Elections has issued its 2006 annual activities report. It is available for
Download at http://accurate-voting.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/AR.2007.pdf


____| German Gesellschaft für Informatik ECOM Working Group Meeting |___

The German Gesellschaft für Informatik will hold a meeting for the
upcoming use of Internet voting for their working group ECOM on 12th of March
at the University of Koblenz. The program is as follows [in German]:

Thema: Elektronische Wahlen und die Internet-Wahl des
Fachgruppensprecher-Teams

=====
Programm:
=====
11:00-11:15 Begrüßung durch Prof. Grimm (Fachgruppensprecher)
11:15-11:30 Round-Table-Vorstellungsrunde
11:30-13:00 Teil I: Internet-Wahlen

1. 11:30-12:00:
Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Grimm, Uni Koblenz, Fachgruppensprecher GI-FG ECOM
Thema: GI-Präsidiums- und Vorstandswahen

2. 12:00-12:30
Melanie Volkamer, Geschäftsführerin des Institut für IT-Sicherheit
und Sicherheitsrecht in der Uni Passau, Autorin des CC-PP,
Mitglied des Präsidiums der GI:
Thema: Das CC Protection Profile für Internet-Wahlen

3. 12:30-13:00
Robert Krimmer, Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien
Thema: State of the Art beim Einsatz von E-Voting in Europa

13:00-14:00 Mittagpause, Freies Essen in der Mensa

14:15-15:45 Teil 2: Andere E-Wahlen

4. 14:15-14:45
Asmus Rösler, Landeswahlamt Hamburg
Der elektronische Wahlstift bei der Bürgerschaftswahl 2008 in Hamburg

5. 14:45-15:15
Dr. Norbert Greif, PTB Berlin, AGr. Software und elektronische Wahlen
Thema: Sicherheit von Wahlgeräten (Wahlgeräteprüfung,
Manipulationen an Nedap-Geräten, Abstrahlproblematik)

6. 15:15-16:00
Diskussion E-Wahlen - Internet-Wahlen - Vereinswahlen - Politische Wahlen

16:00-16:30 Kaffeepause

16:30-17:30 Teil 3: Wahlversammlung der GI Fachgruppe ECOM

7. Vorbereitung der Internet-Wahlen für das Sprecherteam der GI
Fachgruppe ECOM
- Vorstellung des Verfahrens (Grimm)
- Vorstellung des Stands der Handlung (Helbach, Wahlleiter)
- Bestellung der Wahlleitung (Helbach und nn)
- Schluss der Kandidatenliste
- Vorstellung der Kandidaten
- Fragen

Find more here
http://www.gi-ev.de/fachbereiche/sicherheit/fg/ecom/html/wahl-2007-Programm.html



____| Estonian Internet Voting, March 4th 2007 |________________________

After the successful use of Internet voting in the 2005 municipal
elections Estonia is at it again.

To get an overview of the Estonian Internet voting experience
read the Council of Europe report on it at
http://www.coe.int/t/e/integrated_projects/democracy/02_Activities
/02_e-voting/00_E-voting_news/FinalReportEvotingEstoniaCoE6_3_06.asp

For this years election, interested researchers and observers can direct
a request for participation in the observation program to Mr. Vinkel at
Priit.Vinkel@riigikogu.ee. Further information can be obtained from
http://www.vvk.ee/r07/paeveng.stm

The Estonian election will feature another premiere, as the OSCE/ODIHR
will send for the first time an observation team to observe an Internet
election. The assessment missions report can be found at
http://www.osce.org/item/23131.html. Details about the observation mission
are here http://www.osce.org/odihr/item_12_23355.html.


____| Success Factors of Geneva’s e-Voting System |_____________________

Michel Chevallier, Michel Warynski and Alain Sandoz

In eight official votes between January 2003 and April 2005 authorities
in Geneva invited up to 90 ,000 citizens to test a remote e-Voting system
as a complement to traditional voting methods. Multidisciplinary teams
composed of legal, political, PR, security and computer science
specialists, strongly supported by the Government, participated in
creating the system which will be appraised by the Geneva Parliament
en 2006. This paper reports on the project, its results in terms of
numbers and socio-political profile of e-Voters, and its success factors.
All three authors were directly or indirectly involved in the project
from the beginning and are currently working on the deployment of Geneva’s
e-Government platform.

http://www.ejeg.com/volume-4/vol4-iss2/chevallier_et_al.pdf


____| e-Voting in the UK: A Work in Progress |__________________________

Mark Liptrott

The research project on which this paper is based is investigating the
reasons that some English local authorities engaged in pilot projects
of e-voting and some did not. This paper offers a brief summary of the
initial findings of the literature review as it identifies factors,
which impact upon the decision-making process of English local
authorities.

The factors identified include the local authorities’ attitude to
e-voting, their consideration of the citizens’ attitude to voting, the
risks to the integrity of the ballot and the changing political
environment instigated by central government. The analysis is based
on Rogers’ diffusion of innovations theory. Early results of this
on-going research suggest that in a voluntary situation where there
is an over arching organisation (central government) trying to introduce
an innovation to an agency organisation, Rogers’ diffusion of
innovations framework requires modification.

http://www.ejeg.com/volume-4/vol4-iss2/Liptrott.pdf


____| ICEG 2007, Montreal |_____________________________________________

New on-line decision making processes: from deliberative experiments to
on-line voting, 27-28 September 2007

http://www.academic-conferences.org/iceg/iceg2007/iceg2007-home.htm

How does the Internet transform the decision-making process ?
How Does it affect the traditional political system ?

The Internet has been envisioned as an innovative tool to revitalize an
apathetic political involvement on the citizen’s part and offers new
solutions to some traditional problems which have prevented people from
fully participating in politics because of the constraints they impose,
like time, size, knowledge and access. Many countries around the world
have experimented new systems and procedures which encourages citizen
to get involved with politics at a local or national level.

Nevertheless, the extent to which the use of Internet has really enhanced
the public sphere and introduced new actors in the democratic process
remains somewhat uncertain, as technical devices and protocols do not
systematically fit within traditional political systems and structures.

This mini-track invites researchers, practitioners and other actors to
present papers, case studies, on-line platforms or procedures addressing
this main issue and its various dimensions. Has the new process been
initiated by a civil actor’s mobilization (such as associations, NGO,
individuals) ? How have such systems been implemented ? Was it a shared
political will or a new communication strategy from politicians ? Have
the citizen adopted the new medium to voice their concern ?

We would also like to focus on the link between the medium and the nature
of the political participation: how does the medium affects the
participation in all its dimensions ? Does it modifies the structure of
the population traditionally involved with politics (young people or
anonymous persons more at ease with writing online than speaking loud in
public meetings for ex. ), the way they talk, intervene in politics,
invent new objects (blogs, films etc.) ? Are these new way of expressing
oneself within the public sphere (personal medium of mass communication
as Manuel Castells puts it) compatible with traditional political
communication ? How does new procedures take them into account to mobilize
citizens in politics ?

A more theoretical aspect of the session is the link between the
introduction of new technology within the decision making process, the
evolution of the process itself, and more fundamentally, concepts of
citizenship and representation in modern democratic countries. Many
scholars acknowledge the inclusive potential of the new medium and the
opportunity it gives to reconsider some fundamental aspects of the
democratic theory such as concepts of representation, citizenship and
collective action. Is (and how) the introduction of new participative
procedures modifies the structures of the political entity which implements
it ? Is the internet seen as a opportunity to establish a new relationship
with citizens and make the political system evolve towards a conception of
“direct representation” (S. Coleman) ? Can we witness a more “active”
conception of citizenship through new ways of practicing politics ?
Contributions analysing social, political, administrative, etc.
consequences of the introduction of ICT in decision making processes
are welcomed.

Feel free to address any type of contribution (research papers, case
studies, presentations, etc.) in this session as we are very much trying
to link technical systems and devices with more social, political and
theoretical issues.

Important dates
---------------

Abstract submission deadline: 19 April 2007
Notification of abstract acceptance: 26 April 2007
Full paper for review due: 7 June 2007
Notification of paper acceptance
(with possible changes): 19 July 2007
Final paper submission: 9 August 2007

In case of question please contact the Mini-Track-Chair Laurence Smith at
laurence.smith@club-internet.fr


____| AMCIS 2007 - Managerial and Social Aspects of E-Government |______

http://www.biz.colostate.edu/amcis07/Mini_Tracks/E_Gov-Managerial_and_Social_Aspects_of_EGov-Brandtweiner.htm

Americas Conference on Information Systems, Keystone, Colorado, USA
9.-12. August 2007

As the awareness for E-Government is increasing, governments all around
the globe are eagerly looking towards a digital future. Government
agencies are using technology to enhance the access to and the delivery
of government services for the benefit of citizens, business partners
and employees. But E-Government is not only about technology but impacts
every aspect of a public organization involved.

Further important aspects closely related to E-Government are computer
literacy, media competence of the citizens and digital divide issues.
Traditional E-Government research is regularly not scoping these topics.
Therefore we encourage especially papers dealing with computer literacy,
media competence and the digital divide in an E-Government context.

This mini track serves as a forum for the presentation and discussion
of new and innovative interdisciplinary approaches of E-Government for
coping with current and future challenges of pubic administrations.

The E-Government Track will cover a broad area including the following topics:

* E-Government Strategies & Implementation
* Planning & Managing E-Government Projects
* Impact of E-Government Projects
* International, national and local Case Studies
* Comparative Studies
* Barriers & Drivers for E-Government
* Success and failure of Public-Private Partnerships
* Bridging the Digital Divide
* Media Competence and Computer Literacy
* E-Democracy & Citizen Participation

Key Dates:

Papers Due: Monday, March 5, 2007
Notification of Acceptance: Monday, April 16, 2007
Camera Ready Copy Due: Monday, April 30, 2007

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