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Governing Body
13 December
2018
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Online
voting trial at the 2019 elections
File No.: CP2018/24189
Te take mō te
pūrongo / Purpose
of the report
1. To
provide an update on the online voting trial for the 2019 elections.
Whakarāpopototanga matua
/ Executive summary
2. In
May 2018 the Governing Body resolved its support in principle for online
voting. Since then considerable achievements have occurred as a result of
the collaborative work between the participating councils, Local Government New
Zealand (LGNZ), the Society of Local Government Managers (SOLGM) and the
Department of Internal Affairs:
· the
government has introduced a Bill that will enable online voting using specified
classes of electors for a trial
· the
Department of Internal Affairs drafted regulations and consulted on them
· the
Participation Agreement between the nine councils and the working party
structure enabled the councils to effectively work together and share costs
· the
working party developed a comprehensive set of technical and security requirements
for any potential provider to meet
· the
Working Party completed a full business case for the project
· a
security analysis confirmed the robustness of the process.
3. The
estimated total cost for the nine participating councils is $4.230 million.
This includes an 18 per cent contingency and does not include any allowance for
reimbursements from district health boards and licensing trusts.
4. Auckland
Council’s share of the total cost would be approximately $0.927 million,
which would reduce to approximately $0.694 million with reimbursements from the
district health boards and licensing trusts. This is in line with
indications given to the Governing Body meeting in May 2018. That cost
would fall into the 2018/19 and 2019/20 financial years.
5. The
cost for Auckland Council is proportionately low because only a subset of
electors would have the option to vote online in the trial. For other councils
the costs are high in proportion to their size. The chief executives of the
participating councils consider the costs to be too high to recommend that
their councils implement the trial for 2019. This report recommends that
Auckland Council agree to not proceed with the trial for the 2019 elections.
6. All
the reasons for providing online voting to our electors as a voting method
still remain. Experience with developing the project so far has indicated that
in all respects it is viable but there is a funding issue which will need to be
resolved in conjunction with LGNZ and government.
Horopaki / Context
Prior to May 2018
7. With
the support of the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) and the then Minister
of Local Government, an online voting working party was established in 2013
with the goal of providing online voting at the 2016 local government
elections.
8. In
2015, the government issued the requirements to be met by a trial of online
voting. Eight councils expressed their interest in continuing to participate in
the project. The Minister deemed Auckland Council too big to take
part. At that stage, the legislation did not provide for a trial with a
subset of electors. If online voting was authorised by the Minister, it
would need to be available to all electors in an area where this method was
adopted.
9. In
April 2016, the then Associate Minister of Local Government, Louise Upston,
decided to not proceed with the trial because the Government’s
requirements could not be met in time.
10. Following the
2016 elections, Auckland Council conducted research on voter awareness.
When asked for their preferred method of voting, 74 per cent said they would
prefer online voting over postal voting.
11. At its December 2016 meeting, the Finance and Performance Committee
resolved to “request the Minister of Local
Government to explore a pilot trial of an electronic voting system including
by-elections”.
12. In July 2017,
the Governing Body agreed a submission to the Justice Select Committee on its
inquiry into the 2016 elections, which included a strong recommendation
supporting online voting.
13. Following the
parliamentary elections in 2017 some councils – including Auckland
Council – together with LGNZ and SOLGM, worked with the Department of
Internal Affairs to pursue the introduction of enabling legislation. The
Local Electoral Matters Bill was introduced into the House in April 2018.
14. At the end of 2017, LGNZ wrote to the Minister of Local Government
seeking a financial contribution from central government to assist with the
cost of running a trial, with the local government sector meeting the remaining
cost. Due as much to timing as to the multiple demands faced by a new
government, LGNZ was not successful in its funding bid and the possibility of
sector-wide funding was lost for this financial year once councils began their
Long-Term Plan 2018-2028 consultation process.
May 2018: support in principle
15. The Local
Electoral Matters Bill, currently in front of the Justice Select committee,
will allow a trial of a voting method to be conducted with a subset of
electors. It also allows data from electoral rolls to be used for
authentication purposes.
16. In May 2018,
the Governing Body approved the council’s submission on the Local
Electoral Matters Bill. At that meeting the Governing Body resolved its
support for online voting in principle (resolution number GB/2018/82):
That the Governing Body:
…
c) support
in principle Auckland Council conducting an online voting trial in the 2019
local body elections for a subset of electors, either alone or in partnership
with other councils, subject to the following conditions:
i) the
enabling legislation and subsequent regulations being passed in time to procure
and implement an online voting solution
ii) all
risks, including security risks, being appropriately managed
iii) the
cost being acceptable
iv) the
Governing Body giving final approval for any trial to go ahead.
17. The report
noted that costs would likely be in the order of $1 million to $1.5 million.
Tātaritanga me ngā tohutohu / Analysis and advice
Participation agreement
18. Auckland
Council staff developed a structure in which interested councils could collaborate
in progressing the online project.
19. Eight other
councils expressed an interest in being part of a trial. A participation
agreement was signed between the following councils:
· Auckland Council
· Gisborne District
Council
· Hamilton City
Council
· Marlborough District
Council
· Matamata-Piako
District Council
· Palmerston North
City Council
· Selwyn District
Council
· Tauranga City
Council
· Wellington City
Council
20. An online
voting working party was formed comprising representatives from all
participating councils, with support from LGNZ, SOLGM and DIA.
21. The timeframe
was a major challenge for the working party. The Local Electoral Matters
Bill was not likely to be enacted before the end of 2018 but to get an online
solution in place before the 2019 elections, a provider would need to be
identified before the legislation was enacted. On this basis the working
party developed a three-phase approach for the project.
22. Phase 1, to
31 December 2018, consisted of running a competitive procurement process to
identify a preferred provider and developing a full business case, including
total project costs. A commitment to procurement would be subject to the
agreement of the participating councils to continue with the project in view of
the costs and would be subject to legislation and regulations being in place on
time.
23. Auckland
Council had the added task of identifying a subset of electors for the purposes
of the trial. A subset would need to be proposed for approval by the
Minister once regulations were in place.
24. In Phase 2,
the contract with the preferred provider would be finalised and the project
would start, but the project would be stopped by 31 March 2019 if the
legislation was not in place by that date.
25. Phase 3 would
include the full development of the online voting solution, the running of the
trial and a post-trial evaluation.
Engagement with the public
26. For an online
voting method to be successful it will need to be accepted, trusted and used by
the community. The working party considered that public engagement was
important.
27. Two public
forums for various stakeholders were arranged, one in Wellington and one in
Auckland. Representatives of the information technology sector, security
experts, district health boards, government, academia, disability, not for
profit groups and others were invited.
Engagement with local boards
28. Reports
seeking support for online voting and recommendations for subsets for the trial
have been presented to all local boards.
29. Eighteen out
of 21 local boards expressed support for a trial of online voting, two did not
take a position on the trial and one is not supportive of the trial. Twelve of
the eighteen supported the inclusion of their area in the subset of electors. Local
Board resolutions are in Attachment A.
Engagement with district health boards and licensing trusts
30. Elections of
other bodies that are conducted in association with the territorial local
authority elections are required to use the voting methods used by the
territorial local authority, however there is a requirement to consult with the
other bodies and take their views into account when making the formal decision
to adopt the voting method.
31. Auckland
Council staff met with district health board staff to ensure they were aware of
the developments with online voting.
Selection of a provider
32. A request for
proposal was issued by the working party on 27 August 2018. The
requirements that needed to be met by a successful tenderer were developed using
documentation from DIA, expert advice from the participating councils’ IT
staff and were assisted by an international consultant who, as the former CIO
of the New South Wales Electoral Commission, had introduced Ivote for the New
South Wales state elections.
33. A five-member
evaluation panel was established by the working party and included Ian
Brightwell. The panel was assisted by a technical support team comprising
representatives from Auckland Council, Wellington City Council, an independent
security expert and a representative from DIA.
34. Five
suppliers responded. The panel finalised its recommendation to the
working party for a preferred provider on 8 November 2018.
35. A full
business case was developed, with a budget based on the costs submitted by the
preferred supplier and other project costs.
Security
36. No IT or
voting system is 100 per cent secure, but the working party developed technical
security requirements to ensure that the online voting solution would guarantee
a similar or higher level of security than currently offered by postal voting.
37. The working
party engaged a security consultant from reputed information technology firm
Dimension Data to review the security aspects of Phase 1 of the online voting
trial. The report confirms that appropriate security measures and decisions
have been made to the extent possible within the RFP and vendor selection
process, and business case development. The full report is contained in
Attachment B.
Allocation of costs
38. The estimated
total cost for the nine participating councils is $4.230 million. This
includes an 18 per cent contingency and does not include an allowance for
reimbursements from district health boards and licensing trusts.
39. The Working
Party agreed to share costs based on the number of electors having the option
of using online voting. For Auckland Council the estimated subset was 154,000
electors. The actual subset, following consultation with local boards, would be
decided by the Governing Body. All other councils intended to offer
online voting to all electors. On that basis Auckland Council would share
approximately 22 per cent of the costs.
40. Auckland
Council’s share of the total cost would be approximately $0.927 million,
which would reduce to approximately $0.694 million with reimbursements from the
district health boards and licensing trusts. This is in line with
indications given to the Governing Body in May 2018. That cost would fall
into the 2018/19 and 2019/20 financial years.
Costs considered to be too high
41. Auckland
Council’s costs are low in proportion to its size because it would be
offering the online option to only a subset of electors. The other
councils would be offering the option to all their electors and their share of
costs is high in relation to their size. For example, the costs for
Auckland Council and Wellington City Council are based on a similar number of
electors. The cost to Wellington City Council is slightly higher than the
cost to Auckland Council. The chief executives of the participating
councils consider the costs to be too high to recommend that their councils
implement the trial for 2019.
42. Staff
therefore recommend that Auckland Council does not proceed with the trial for
2019.
Future of online voting
43. There have
been considerable achievements so far as a result of the collaborative work
between all participating councils, LGNZ, SOLGM and the Department of Internal
Affairs:
· the
government has introduced a Bill that will enable online voting using specified
classes of electors for a trial
· the
Department of Internal Affairs drafted regulations and consulted on them
· the
Participation Agreement between the nine councils and the working party
structure enabled the councils to effectively work together and share costs
· the
working party developed a comprehensive set of technical and security
requirements for any potential provider to meet
· the
Working Party completed a full business case for the project
· a
security analysis confirmed the robustness of the process.
44. Apart from
the remaining uncertainty about the timing of the legislation, the only factor
preventing online voting in 2019 is funding.
45. Staff
consider that all the reasons for continuing to develop an online voting option
still apply, including the decline of the postal option, provision for the
disabled and those overseas and responding to those who state clearly that they
would prefer online voting over postal voting.
46. The Governing
Body is asked to re-confirm its support for online voting and to ask the
Minister to:
· explore a national or sector-wide system and funding approach for
online voting in time for the 2022 elections, or earlier for by-elections if
possible, and
· proceed with the
enactment of the Local Electoral Matters Bill as soon as possible to avoid
losing momentum.
Ngā whakaaweawe me
ngā tirohanga a te rōpū Kaunihera /
Council group impacts and views
47. Elections and
the use of online voting as a voting method do not impact on other members of
the council group.
Ngā whakaaweawe ā-rohe me ngā
tirohanga a te poari ā-rohe /
Local impacts and local board views
48. Local board
support for online voting is outlined in the report and resolutions contained
in Attachment A.
Tauākī whakaaweawe Māori / Māori impact statement
49. Voter turnout
has historically been lower among Māori than non-Māori. We do
not have robust information on the impact online voting may have on Māori
participation but there are positive indications from the use of online options
for participating in the Long-term Plan consultation.
50. A number of
iwi have embraced internet technology and provide online voting as an option
for their elections.
51. Online voting
may have a positive impact on Māori participation in elections.
Ngā ritenga ā-pūtea / Financial implications
52. The nine
participating councils agreed to equally share the costs of Phase 1. Auckland
Council’s share amounts to approximately $15,000. Auckland Council spent
an additional $62,608 on ICT technical resources. These costs do not include
the council’s very significant contribution in staff time to run the
Working Party, manage the project and lead the procurement process. About 20
staff from the Democracy Services, Procurement, Legal, ICT, Finance and
Research and Evaluation Departments were heavily involved in the project on
behalf of the sector.
Ngā raru tūpono me ngā whakamaurutanga / Risks and
mitigations
53. We intended
to trial online voting at the 2019 elections with a view, if successful, to
implementing it as a permanent option to postal voting from 2022. For
Auckland Council a trial can only be with a subset of electors and so offering
online voting as an option for all electors could not happen until after a successful
trial. With postponing a trial from 2019 to 2022 a permanent online
option for all Auckland Council electors will be delayed until 2025 with the
risk that postal services will decline further by that time.
54. There is a
substantial risk to the future of online voting if the Government does not
assist financially.
Ngā koringa ā-muri / Next steps
55. Staff propose
that the mayor writes to the Minister of Local Government to encourage the
Government to assist financially to enable online voting to be
trialled at by-elections between 2019 and the 2022 elections, as well as at the
2022 elections.
56. Staff will
continue to work with other councils, LGNZ, SOLGM and the Department of
Internal Affairs to develop the online voting solution and to seek financial
assistance from the government.
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No.
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Title
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Page
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a⇩ 
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Local board feedback
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13
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b⇩
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Security review status report
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19
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Ngā kaihaina / Signatories
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Author
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Warwick McNaughton - Principal Advisor - Democracy
Services
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Authorisers
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Marguerite Delbet - General Manager Democracy Services
Phil Wilson - Governance Director
Stephen Town - Chief Executive
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