The Electoral Council and not the municipality will be responsible for software polling stations

In the Netherlands, the Electoral Council will probably in the future be responsible for creating, managing and securing the software used by polling stations. The responsibility currently lies with the municipality. The House of Representatives has agreed to the proposal.

The Senate still has to agree, the central government writes. “With the introduction of the bill, the Electoral Council, as administrator, can draw up regulations for connection and use, and the Electoral Council can ensure compliance with those regulations.” The House of Representatives agreed without voting on Thursday. This probably means that there were no or few factions against it.

The Electoral Council also makes the use of that software mandatory and may also impose it according to the bill. The software at polling stations is not for counting votes, but plays a supporting role in, for example, reporting results.

OSV 2020