Paper ballots ‘most transparent’ and ensures secrecy: Chan Chun Sing
Voters have seen putting their Poll Card in the ballot box at the Polling Station at HDB Golden Lotus, 62B Lorong 4 Toa Payoh, on Sept 11, 2015. TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE – Voting by paper ballot at polling stations is still the simplest and most secure, said Minister Chan Chun Sing in Parliament on Wednesday (April 6).
Mr Chan added that paper ballots are “the most transparent method of voting that can ensure the integrity and secrecy of our voting process”.
“While internet voting may appeal to some, it has various challenges – like difficulties in authenticating voters, preventing impersonation, and ensuring voters secrecy,” Mr Chan added, in response to questions by non-constituency member of parliament Dennis Tan on feasibility of online voting for overseas Singaporeans.
He added that the use of SingPass as an authentication method can only overcome the difficulties with authentication partially, but not the other challenges with internet voting.
Even with a two-factor authentication method that SingPass is currently using, authenticating and verifying a person’s identity may not be easily overcome, Mr Chan said. “If somebody is able to get his hands on the password or for the matter, the token, then it’s not a foolproof method.”
“In addition, there are system reliability issues and security risks, such as vulnerability to hacking and cyber attacks,” he noted.
Furthermore, auditing the voting results in the event of a petition to the election judge would pose more challenges and be potentially problematic, Mr Chan said.
