Where it all went wrong: a timeline of events
1998: E-voting is first examined and proposed as then Environment Minister Noel Dempsey commissions research on the counting of ballot papers in the European and local elections of 1999 to test the feasibility of e-voting. 1999: The first procurement round takes place and the Nedap-powervote system is the winner. 2002: E-voting trials take place in three constituencies (Dublin North, Dublin West and Meath) for the general election and trials are also held for the second referendum on the Nice Treaty later that year. They operate smoothly, but this fails to quell concerns about security issues. The government agrees to buy the machines for €50 million. May 2003: ICTE (Irish Citizens for Trustworthy E-voting) is founded. The are one among a number of organisations and experts who believe that no electronic voting system can be trustworthy unless it includes a paper-based voter verified audit trail, which the machines purchased do not.
March 2004: Amid growing concerns, the government sets up an independent commission to examine e-voting, but intend to use the machines in the elections later that year.
May 2004: E-voting is shelved just a month before It had been scheduled to be rolled out nationwide in the June elections of 2004 after the commission said the secrecy and accuracy of the voting system could not be guaranteed.
April 2009: The e-voting project is officially abandoned when then Environment Minister John Gormley announces that the machines would be disposed of in order to save the State from having to pay further costs for their storage.
January 2012: Almost three years after John Gormley said they would be disposed of, Environment Minister Phil Hogan announces that the government is finally going to get rid of all its e-voting equipment, including the 7,500 machines. Almost €55 million has been spent on evoting to date, including the purchase and storage of the equipment.
