Foreword

I was also very pleased to have as members of the Commission, Mr. Kieran Coughlan, Clerk of the Dáil, Ms. Deirdre Lane, Clerk of the Seanad, Dr. Danny O’Hare, Chairman of the Information Society Commission and former President of Dublin City University and Mr. Brian Sweeney, Chairman of Siemens Ireland Ltd. and former Chairman of Science Foundation Ireland.

The terms of reference provided that the Commission shall make one or more reports to the Ceann Comhairle not later than 1 May 2004 comprising recommendations on the secrecy and accuracy of the chosen electronic voting and counting system, i.e. the Nedap/Powervote system, including the application or non-application as the case may be of the electronic voting and counting of the Nedap/Powervote system for the local and European elections on 11 June 2004.

The timeframe to complete the first report was, of necessity, very limited so that it was imperative for the Commission to commence its work without delay.

My thanks are due to the many people who assisted the Commission in its work to date particularly those in the University of Dublin, University College Dublin, Dublin City University, the Institute of Public Administration and my colleagues on the Commission.

My thanks are also due to the many people who went to so much trouble to furnish submissions and their views on electronic voting to the Commission.

Finally I must thank the Secretary to the Commission, Mr. Alan Murphy who impressed Commission members by his industry, energy and knowledge of the subject matter. He was ably assisted by Mr. Paul Dowling, Mr. Brendan Conroy and Ms. Anne Quinlan in his work to date.

Mr. Justice Matthew P. Smith
Chairman

29 April, 2004

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