{"id":268056,"date":"2020-03-25T15:28:46","date_gmt":"2020-03-25T19:28:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/issues\/online-voting-entirely-possible-for-mps-during-times-of-crisis\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T22:54:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T02:54:12","slug":"online-voting-entirely-possible-for-mps-during-times-of-crisis","status":"publish","type":"issues","link":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/03\/online-voting-entirely-possible-for-mps-during-times-of-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Online voting entirely possible for MPs during times of crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

The international COVID-19\u00a0pandemic\u00a0has forced many sectors to explore online\u00a0tools to ensure operational continuity during this time of crisis.\u00a0Provincial governments\u00a0in Canada\u00a0have begun releasing online learning platforms to continue to provide students with learning resources\u00a0(Ontario\u2019s Learn at Home program<\/span><\/span><\/a>, for example). In the United States, the New\u00a0York Stock Exchange\u00a0has\u00a0temporarily closed its trading floor in favour of fully electronic trading.<\/p>\n

In such unprecedented times,\u00a0even institutions steeped in tradition must\u00a0consider\u00a0technology. Under the current circumstances, it\u00a0could\u00a0also\u00a0be the answer for\u00a0Parliament.<\/p>\n

The Trudeau government suspended\u00a0Parliament until April 20 in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, but recall<\/span><\/span>ed<\/span><\/span>\u00a0parliamentarians\u00a0<\/span><\/span>this week<\/span><\/span><\/a> to pass emergency measures to support Canada\u2019s response.\u00a0Only\u00a020\u00a0MPs\u00a0(including the\u00a0Speaker)\u00a0must be present for a vote\u00a0according to Commons procedure<\/span><\/span><\/a>,\u00a0though approximately 32\u00a0attended\u00a0the emergency debate on March 23.\u00a0Likewise, Australia\u2019s federal parliament has been suspended until August 11. In\u00a0the UK, there has been considerable debate regarding the potential closure of parliament, which did not shut down during the Second World War or the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. The presence of the coronavirus, however, has parliamentarians reconsidering whether this\u00a0could\u00a0be such a historic time.<\/p>\n

Our government now faces two seemingly competing options: continue to pass\u00a0necessary\u00a0legislation or maintain vital social distancing.\u00a0The time has come to consider\u00a0a third option: adopt an online solution allowing MPs to continue to vote remotely on bills and motions.<\/p>\n

This approach can allow MPs to continue voting on key pieces of legislation in times of crisis or during unforeseen circumstances while enabling greater legislative voice by not limiting the number of MPs that could be present.\u00a0It would involve having MPs cast their vote\u00a0remotely\u00a0via a secure device using a\u00a0secure\u00a0internet connection\u00a0and a dedicated application.<\/p>\n

Online voting in Canada and technology in\u00a0Parliament<\/strong><\/p>\n

Canada is already one of the leading adopters of online voting.\u00a0It has been used in hundreds of municipal elections since 2003, and by Indigenous communities across the country since 2011. In addition,\u00a0federal and provincial\u00a0political parties\u00a0of all stripes regularly use online\u00a0ballots for\u00a0votes on\u00a0leadership,\u00a0policy, and internal party matters. Sub-nationally, it was deployed in PEI for\u00a0a\u00a02016 plebiscite on electoral reform and was recently an option for absentee voters in the 2019 Northwest Territories general election.\u00a0Despite this,\u00a0online voting\u00a0for\u00a0general elections\u00a0is seen as controversial by cybersecurity experts and poses significant unsolved technical\u00a0challenges.<\/p>\n

Parliamentary voting, on the other hand, is entirely workable from a cybersecurity perspective because it differs from\u00a0general elections in three\u00a0crucial\u00a0ways.<\/p>\n

First, an\u00a0MP\u2019s vote is a matter of public record, which makes it possible to verify\u00a0it was correctly\u00a0recorded and counted.\u00a0Second,\u00a0the federal government has\u00a0the resources to provide\u00a0MPs\u00a0with\u00a0the\u00a0necessary\u00a0cybersecurity infrastructure\u00a0to ensure the protection of electronic information.\u00a0Third, the government has the capacity to provide MPs training on procedures necessary to ensure votes are successfully entered into the record.\u00a0We explore these features below.<\/p>\n

How would online voting work in Canada\u2019s House of Commons?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A secure,\u00a0remote\u00a0online\u00a0solution\u00a0for\u00a0parliamentary voting\u00a0is\u00a0viable. However,\u00a0care must be taken in the design. For example, the EU parliament\u2019s recent decision to use email as a voting\u00a0platform\u00a0does not provide adequate security protection.\u00a0We advocate for an online voting system\u00a0that is premised on\u00a0people\u00a0(MPs verifying their vote selections have been recorded correctly and\u00a0have not been tampered with);\u00a0process\u00a0(parliamentary procedures that allow the House to continue to function even if technology has issues);\u00a0and\u00a0technology\u00a0(secure infrastructure\u00a0that\u00a0includes a government secured device, application and network connection).<\/p>\n

The open nature of MPs\u2019\u00a0votes means that every member and their selection is public knowledge and can be looked up by anyone. To ensure the\u00a0vote\u00a0cast and received accurately reflects the choice of the MP would require training to ensure detection and reporting of any\u00a0errors or tampering with their\u00a0vote.<\/p>\n

One study\u00a0by Matthew Bernhard and colleagues at the University of Michigan examining\u00a0ballot-marking devices (BMDs) in the US finds\u00a0that very few voters actually check their printed ballot after voting\u00a0to confirm their vote choice was indeed recorded as cast.\u00a0Instead, voters were\u00a0more likely to do so\u00a0when given certain prompts. In addition, when faults\u00a0(errors\u00a0in what is recorded\u00a0or tampering\/hacking, for example)\u00a0are detected,\u00a0voters\u00a0are\u00a0likely to attribute it to their own mistake and not report it. These natural cognitive biases can be addressed through proper procedures and training for\u00a0MPs, such as directing them to visit\u00a0an online record of\u00a0preliminary votes to ensure their selections\u00a0are\u00a0accurately recorded.<\/p>\n

While it is never possible to\u00a0completely\u00a0eliminate the possibility of hacking, having\u00a0MPs\u00a0follow a clear set of procedures can make hacking detectable and ballots recoverable.<\/p>\n

There is an important distinction between vote capture errors being detectable\u00a0and\u00a0actually\u00a0detecting\u00a0them.\u00a0In order to ensure both, we recommend\u00a0that:<\/p>\n