The CSE just released a report detailing cyber threats to Canada’s democratic process. In light of this week’s most compelling publicly-made case to date that election hacking at the nation-state level is a thing, election agencies from the federal level all the way down to private, non-governmental elections should be considering their options when it comes to the adoption of online voting.
I was recently interviewed by The Hill Times (Ottawa’s political newspaper of record) about the NDP’s decision to use online voting in their upcoming leadership race.
My advice for what it’s worth is not don’t do it. Rather, it is to think about the implications to the political process if the vote count was hacked. In short: what’s your disaster plan? Do you have one? Has it even occurred to you? If it hasn’t, why not? If it has but you don’t think you need one, why not?
As I keep telling election officials, this isn’t like when a company gets hacked and they can just give you a gift card. What do you do if the wrong person gets elected, and you find out after the fact? No, but seriously, what would you do, and are you ready to be the organization to experience the seemingly inevitable supreme court test case?
Read the interview in The Hill Times (login required)