30^th April 2004

PRESS RELEASE

GREEN PARTY CALLS ON CULLEN TO RESIGN OVER EVOTING FIASCO

The Green Party has called on the Minister for the Environment to resign in the wake of the Independent Commission on Electronic Voting’s Report.

Ciaran Cuffe TD, the Green Party Local Government Spokesperson stated, “Minister Cullen has pursued the issue of electronic voting with a volatile combination of arrogance and naivety.  He must stand down in the wake of the Commissions concerns regarding the verification of the accuracy and secrecy of the ballot.”

Trevor Sargent TD Green Party Leader, added, “Minister Cullen’s judgment is seriously flawed and his position is now untenable.  He must now resign.”

Green Party Local Government Spokesperson, Ciaran Cuffe has today called for the setting up of an Independent Electoral Commission to oversee all aspects of the Electoral process in Ireland.

According to Ciarán Cuffe TD,  "Today's report from the Commission on Electronic Voting clearly demonstrates that the process of organising and running elections in Ireland needs to be taken out of the political arena."

The CEV today reported that the proposed Electronic Voting system had not been tested to a appropriate standard, and that it could not support it's introduction until proper testing had been carried out.

According to Deputy Cuffe, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Environment, Heritage and Local Government had come to the same conclusion in December, but the decision was cynically overturned by the Fianna Fail members of the Committee last December so that the Minister could place the order with Powervote.

"The Committee heard presentations from a number of eminent IT professionals and Academics, and neither the Department nor the suppliers were able to answer the questions raised in the Committee. The consensus was that we should hold off until the issues had been resolved."

"This was a cynical attempt to try and keep the Minister's pet project on track, particularly so, given the un-refuted evidence presented to the Committee - evidence that has now been confirmed by the CEV," concluded Deputy Cuffe.