Electronic Democracy and Citizen Participation

Transcription

Electronic Democracy and
Citizen Participation
Technological and functional
report on the electronic Citizen
Consultation
July, 2004
Electronic democracy and citizen participation.
Technological and functional report on the electronic Citizen Consultation MadridParticipa
Scytl Online World Security S.A.
Accenture Sociedad Unipersonal S.L.
First published 2004
© Copyright July 2004 Scytl Online World Security S.A., Barcelona, Spain, and Accenture Sociedad Unipersonal S.L.,
Madrid, España
The reproduction or adaptation, be it total or partial, of the information contained in this document, into any type of
material or in electronic form by any physical or legal person without prior written consent from Scytl Online World Security S.A and Accenture Sociedad Unipersonal S.L. is forbidden.
Design by ARTEXT producción gráfica
Printed by COIMOFF
Printed in Spain - Impreso en España
Index
Objectives of the experience
........................................................................................................
5
.............................................................................................................................................
6
Characteristics of the event ............................................................................................................
Motivation ...........................................................................................................................................
Consultation .......................................................................................................................................
Location ...............................................................................................................................................
Segment of the population ..........................................................................................................
Dates ....................................................................................................................................................
Participation channels ..................................................................................................................
Participation centres .......................................................................................................................
Results .................................................................................................................................................
7
7
7
8
8
9
10
13
14
Communication of the event ..........................................................................................................
Communication actions .................................................................................................................
Observers ...........................................................................................................................................
Corporate image ..............................................................................................................................
Images of the event ........................................................................................................................
Web www.madridparticipa.org ...................................................................................................
18
18
20
21
21
23
Description of the participation process ...................................................................................
Interactions with the citizen .........................................................................................................
Processes followed during the consultation .......................................................................
25
25
26
Technological infraestructure .........................................................................................................
Poll-site centres and remote voting .......................................................................................
Voting and registration system .................................................................................................
Tallying system ..................................................................................................................................
Security system ...............................................................................................................................
28
28
28
30
30
Precedents
3
4
Organization of the project ............................................................................................................
Firms that participated in the project .....................................................................................
Observers ...........................................................................................................................................
Local partners ...................................................................................................................................
Council participation .....................................................................................................................
31
31
35
35
35
Conclusions
37
............................................................................................................................................
Objectives of the
experience
On the 28th, 29th and 30th of June 2004 a binding pilot test regarding citizen participation using a multi-channel system employing the most advanced security technology took place in the City of Madrid. This pilot was
the most significant and far reaching undertaken until the moment in Spain, and which allowed to the City of
Madrid to position themselves at the same level as other European cities in the Electronic Democracy (eDemocracy) arena.
The main objective of the test pilot consisted in analysing the possibilities that the use of new technologies
offers to improve and modernize participation processes, as well as to increase the interaction of citizens with
public entities. Another objective was also to ensure that the technologies used offered the levels of security
that an experience of these characteristics required.
If the steps undertaken by other European countries are followed, the recommended route for the correct
implementation of tools that encourage electronic Democracy consists in undertaking a number of pilots,
defined but with a certain scope, that allow the evaluation of both socio-political aspects and technological
ones as well as develop permanent participation platforms.
In this regard, a test pilot with a public opinion survey has been undertaken. This test had until the moment
no precedents in Spain in what refers to the security technology involved, the variety of electronic participation channels offered and the number of voters.
A variety of national and international Observers were invited to the pilot experience from different areas: government (local, regional, etc…), academics in the areas of e-Democracy and others interested in the development of a participative democracy through electronic means.
5
Precedents
Since the Internet has become a phenomenon of masses, studies have been undertaken in various countries
around the positive effect that the net of networks could have on relations between citizens and the Public
Administration, facilitating interaction between the two. In particular, the use of new technologies implies huge
promises in what refers to the improvement and modernization of current electoral processes as well as traditional participation, also opening the doors to the development of public opinion portals.
In order to introduce the concepts of electronic Democracy, and to initiate the necessary experimentation with
diverse technologies of electronic consultations, various European countries have lately organized different
pilot tests of electronic voting with which they request that citizens offer their opinion on different topics or that
they elect certain representatives. The correct technology implementation strategy in electoral and polling
processes implies gradual experimentation. This strategy allows the technology systems and the procedures
used to be perfected, by obtaining reliable data from real tests with real citizens.
For example, the United Kingdom carried out electronic voting pilots during the local elections in 2002 and
2003, and foresees undertaking more each year until the elections in 2008, when the use of new technologies
for casting binding votes in general elections will be fully enabled. On the other hand, in Switzerland, the canton of Geneva undertook in 2002 and the beginning of 2003 remote electronic voting pilots that were binding,
and the cantons in Zurich an Neuchâtel have run new tests in 2004. The Dutch government will allow its three
million residents living outside of Holland to vote electronically during the 2004 general elections. France is
also on the list with a test in Issy les Moulineaux and the recent ones held during the 2004 elections. Germany,
Ireland, Estonia and Norway have similar initiatives. In all of these the objective is the consolidation of reliable
tools which are also flexible, secure and efficient for electronic voting and citizen participation and that among
other benefits will reduce the electronic absenteeism and will draw the younger segments of the population
closer to politics.
In Spain, thanks to the initiatives of various public administrations and firms, a variety of electronic voting pilots
have been undertaken until the moment. We could highlight the pilots held during the elections of the Vice Chancellor in the Autonomous University of Barcelona in 2001 and during the cloister elections in the University of
Barcelona in 2002, the elections to the Advising Committee to the Guardia Civil in 2002, the trade union elections of the Mossos d´Esquadra (autonomous Catalan police) and the elections to the Parlament of Catalonia
in 2003, or the surveys undertaken in the areas of Poble Sec in Barcelona and the Sant Bartomeu del Grau and
Hoyo de Pinares City Councils.
6
Characteristics
of the event
Motivation
The Madrid City Council planned to initiate a participative process consisting of a public opinion survey, with
the added new aspect that new technologies would be used during the consultation process, by means of a
pilot experience that would provide real data to evaluate the suitability of these types of processes and the
use of the technology. The socio-political details of the consultation and the interpretations can be found in
the independent report undertaken by Doctors Jordi Barrat and Josep Maria Reniu.
Consultation
Citizens were consulted on a series of multiple-choice questions related to possible actions and improvements in equipment that the City Council could promote in their areas. Only one response could be selected
per question (a requirement set by the Council).
The questions posed were the following:
1. Which public infrastructures do you believe could be improved within the Central District?
A.
C.
E.
G.
Education centres
Artistic-cultural centres
Green areas
Children’s parks
B.
D.
F.
H.
Centres for the elderly
Shopping Centres
Libraries
Child care centres
I. I do not wish to give my opinion on this question / No opinion
2. What is, in your opinion, the most important priority in order to improve the quality of life in the Central District?
A. Improve traffic
C. Improve cleanliness
E. Improve the availability of public infrastructure
B. Improve security
D. Improve housing
F. Integration of the immigrant community
G. I do not wish to give my opinion on this question / No opinion
7
3. Which activities would most contribute to stimulating and revitalizing the Central District?
A. Street theatres
C. Travelling Expositions
E. Converting streets to pedestrian areas
B. Thematic street markets
D. Improving traditional commerce
F. I do not wish to give my opinion on this question / No opinion
Location
The public opinion survey was undertaken in the Central District of Madrid, with a number of potential voters ascending to
136,227 residents according the registry, a figure calculated
upon excluding those under the age of 16.
Universidad
Justicia
Palacio
MAP
OF THE
CENTRAL DISTRICT
Sol
Cortes
POPULATION: 146,443 (Inhabitants)
DENSITY OF THE POPULATION: 280 (Inhabitants / Hectares)
Embajadores
NUMBER OF HOMES: 61,807
Segment of the population
The survey was open to all those people 16 years old registered in the Central District, independently of
their nationality. The minimum normal age of 18 for participation in elections was reduced given the fact
that it was a pilot participation process and in order to involve younger people with public institutions as
well as public life.
Within the Central District the distribution of the age pyramid is not very homogenous, the younger segments
of the population being the largest.
With regard to socio-cultural level, we find ourselves with a distribution which is around 53% within the intermediate and higher levels where the potential for participation is theoretically higher, however contrary to this
there also exists a very high percentage of people with no qualification and migrant population, groups potentially included in the so-called digital divide, where access to and use of new technologies is less widespread
and there are greater difficulties to introduce these into society.
8
Technological and functional report
AGE
PYRAMID IN THE
CENTRAL DISTRICT
100 and more
95 to 99
90 to 94
85 to 89
80 to 84
75 to 79
70 to 74
65 to 69
60 to 64
55 to 59
50 to 54
45 to 49
40 to 44
35 to 39
30 to 34
25 to 29
20 to 24
15 to 19
10 to 14
5 to 9
0 to 4
6.5
Men
Woman
5.5
SOCIO-CULTURAL
4.5
3.5
2.5
1.5
0.5
0.5
1.5
2.5
3.5
4.5
5.5
6.5
LEVEL
Working population distribution
CENTER
Absolute value
Percentage
Business executives and Public Administration
3,759
8.6%
Technicians, scientific professionals and intellectuals
9,414
21.5%
Support technicians and professionals
8,476
19.3%
Employees in administration
4,515
10.3%
Jobs in restoration, personal and protection, trade services
7,100
16.2%
Qualified jobs in agriculture and fishing
112
0.3%
Qualified industry, building, mining jobs
3,034
6.9%
Operators of facilities, machinery, fitters
1,766
4.0%
Non-skilled workers
5,541
12.6%
Army professionals
163
0.4%
Total
43, 880
Dates
The consultation took place on the 28th, 29th and 30th of June 2004, with the following agenda.
9
AGENDA
ON THE VOTING DAYS
28th of June
19:00 h
Creation of the Consultation Board (similar to an electoral board).
21:00 h
Opening of the consultation for all citizens within the district.
29th of June
Full day to exercise right to participate. The polling-site centers are open from 9:00 a.m. till 20:00 p.m., with the
exception of a market which closes at midday.
30th of June
Day to participate. The polling-site centers are open from 9:00 a.m. till 17:00 p.m., with the exception of a market which
closes at midday.
17:00 h
Consultation process is closed.
17:45 h
Opening of ballot boxes and tallying.
17:55 h
Official presentation of results.
Participation channels
The consultation was undertaken on a citizen participation platform that integrates various participation channels both remote and poll-site based:
REMOTE ACCESS
Mobile phones
PC
INTERNET
POLL-SITE VOTING
Voting servers
Tablets PCs
Polling station
Personal computers
In particular, the different channels set up for participation in the consultation were:
• Remote electronic participation using a personal computer with connection to Internet.
• Remote electronic participation using mobile telephones.
• Poll-site electronic participation using Tablet PCs and personal computers located in several centres set
up especially for the event using touch screens and other elements to facilitate the use of these systems.
Below we will show the instructions given to each citizen that outline the process to be followed in order to
participate in the channels set-up (instructions in Spanish).
10
11
12
Participation centres
The use of new technologies in Public Administrations introduces a symbol of modernization in these. The
new channels of interaction with citizens that come about as a result of their usage, allow more direct relations to be established and to become compliments to the traditional ones.
Although it is true, that society is becoming increasingly more familiar with new technologies, still remains a large
segment of the population which has no access to these, be it due to a lack of knowledge or in other cases a
lack of resources or interest (digital divide). There are also people who still prefer a more direct and personalized contact, and who do not see in these new forms of access an alternative way to contact Public Administration. It is for these reasons that traditional channels are not and should not be replaced, at least nowadays.
In order to ensure that access to these new technologies did not prove to be of any impediment for any sector of those people registered in the Central District, different poll-sites centres were set up with personnel and
the necessary infrastructure to enable the right to vote in the consultation to be exercised.
These centres have been strategically selected, given that they all represent meeting points for very heterogeneous groups within the population of the District.
These centres were:
• Mesonero Romanos Centre (Plaza Mayor, nº 27)
Situated at the heart of Madrid, the Mesonero Romanos Centre that bears the name
of a Spanish literary figure from the 19th Century (1803). It is located in the old Bakery
House. Currently this centre is dedicated to the study of current topics but fundamentally to the diffusion of the Madrid culture. Apart from the diffusion of culture
which takes place by way of expositions the centre also organizes a whole series of
activities such as seminars, conferences and other cultural acts.
• Citizen participation HQ (Bailén, nº 22)
It constitutes the new office of the government area within the Madrid City Council for
Citizen Participation.
• Benito Martín Lozano Municipal Eldery Centre (San Joaquín, nº 10)
This centre located near the famous street Fuencarral (University District) constitutes
a meeting point for all Spanish people or foreigners over 60, retired or pensioners
due to their age or disability registered in the central district.
• San Antón Market (Augusto Figueroa, nº 24)
This centre is located in a market, which today represents the largest shopping centre in the Chueca area.
13
• Neighbours Association La Corrala (Cabestreros, nº 9, local)
The office set up by the Neighbours Association, constitutes a meeting point for many
of the residents in the area of Lavapies, where it a series of activities are undertaken:
Legal advice - social assistance - Leisure and Culture - work integration - voluntary work.
• Casino de la Reina (Casino, nº 5)
A community centre where public internet access points are located. In addition, in
the same building, there is also a social assistance centre for migrants and day centre for the elderly.
Apart from these centres, the CAPI network (network of Centres for Public Internet access) have participated
in the initiative given that they are centres where citizens can go to request credentials and use the existing
infrastructures to participate in the public opinion consultation. For more information about this network,
please check http://www.munimadrid.es/mar/
Results
The results obtained from the experience were analysed in depth in the socio-political study undertaken as a
result of the experience by a team of experts from the University of León (OVE) specialized in topics regarding electronic Democracy.
We summarize the most significant facts extracted from this experience.
Participation rate
There was an overall participation rate of 0.65% with regard to the total population possible of 136,227 people, with 882 votes as the absolute value.
Roll
136,227
100%
Registered citizens
1,351
0.99%
Citizens that voted
882
0.65%
With regard to the breakdown of the participation by voting channels this was the information extracted:
VOTES
PER CHANNEL
Internet - Poll-site centre, 53%
Internet – remote, 34%
Mobile Java, 3%
Mobile SMS, 10%
14
Regarding the most voted responses for each question, next you can find
the votes breakdown:
Votes per question
Citizens
that voted
Absenteeism
136,227
882
135,345
100%
0.65%
99.35%
Roll
Question 1. Which public infrastructures do you believe could be improved within the Central District?
Votes
Percentage
A. Educational centres
109
12%
B. Elderly centres
134
15%
C. Artistic and culture centres
138
15%
47
5%
286
32%
46
5%
D. Shopping centres
E. Green areas
F. Libraries
G. Children’s parks
45
5%
H. Child care centres
70
7%
7
0%
I. I do not wish to give opinion / no opinion
PUBLIC
INFRASTRUCTURES
350
300
Votes
250
200
150
100
50
0
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
Question 2. Which is in your opinion the most important priority in terms of improving the quality of life
in the Central District?
15
Votes
Percentage
A. Improve the traffic
148
16%
B. Improve security
315
35%
C. Improve cleanliness
145
16%
D. Improve housing
93
10%
E. Improve the conditions of public infrastructure
82
9%
F. The integration of migrants
94
10%
5
0%
F
G
G. I do not wish to give opinion / no opinion
QUALITY
OF LIFE
350
300
Votes
250
200
150
100
50
0
A
B
C
D
E
Question 3. Which activities would contribute most to stimulating and revitalizing the Central District?
Votes
Percentage
A. Street theatres
37
4%
B. Thematic street markets
51
5%
C. Travelling expositions
39
4%
D. Improving traditional commerce
296
33%
E. Converting streets to pedestrian areas
438
49%
21
2%
F. I do not wish to give opinion / no opinion
REVITALIZING
THE
CENTRAL DISTRICT
500
450
400
Votes
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
A
16
B
C
D
E
F
The Central District has a considerably large migrant and elderly population (given that it is one of the most
diverse districts in the city of Madrid) and it was selected, with the objective of familiarizing these groups with
the use of new technologies and also encouraging citizen participation amongst those segments that are less
active and more prone to be part of the so-called digital divide.
In order to achieve the maximum rate of participation possible a series of communication campaigns were
undertake to communicate, train and motivate diverse groups, associations, etc.
As additional information we include the statistics related to the last elections to the Madrid City Council with
the absenteeism rates.
MADRID CITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS 2003 (% of absenteeism per District)
40
35
% ROLL
30
25
20
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10
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In any case, as a public opinion consultation, Madrid Participa could never be objectively compared to an
electoral process, given that although the mechanisms are similar, the objectives of each process are different, and so the motivations of the participants.
In the sociological report the statistical information is broken down in more detail and we refer to this in order
to analyse in more depth the information contained in the citizen consultation.
17
Communication
of the event
In an event of these characteristics it is necessary to undertake concerted communication efforts in a systematic and organized way, both directed at citizens that participate in the survey and towards the media
–local, national and foreign–.
Communication actions
With this objective in mind a special communication plan was initially designed. Finally the following actions
were undertaken:
• Presentation of the initiative
In the 21st of May 2004, the project Madrid Participa was presented. The person responsible for this was
the Mayor of Madrid, Mr. Alberto Ruíz-Gallardón. This clearly demonstrated the commitment of the Council with regard to this initiative, and the binding nature of the participative process was also announced. The
act concluded with the signing of the collaboration agreement between the Council and the two organizing
companies (Accenture and Scytl).
All the representatives of the companies involved together with the Mayor of Madrid
18
• Web of the event
In order to communicate the event, an informational web was developed (www.madridparticipa.org) which
included all information related to the realization of the consultation and participation in it as proposed by
the Council.
In this area, all citizens or visitors interested in the public opinion consultation could obtain information,
apart from being a site where citizens also accessed to cast their vote during the period of the consultation. As a result of this, the web was active from the beginning of the communication of the event to the
media until October 2004. The web has been growing in content during the project. In the section below
details of the web are outlined.
• Communication in local, national and international media (television, radio and Internet) undertaken
in the period from the 14th of June (after the European elections) until the 30th of June
The organizers of the public opinion poll, both the institutions and the partners, have been committed to
obtaining the maximum media coverage before, during and after the consultation was undertaken, as a
process of these characteristics has no precedents in Spain.
– Local communication: the following promotional measures were undertaken:
✓ The voluntary personnel provided by the Council, undertook various communication activities as well
as contacting the citizens able to participate, handing out informational pamphlets regarding the consultation, its objectives and benefits to citizens.
✓ Sending each citizen in the Central District a personalized letter with an informational pamphlet.
✓ Distribution of pamphlets in Neighbours Associations, libraries and other public places.
✓ Putting up posters that promoted the event in different areas: banners, columns, and some shops.
✓ Distribution of pamphlets and help guides on the voting process in the Centres set up for the consultation.
✓ Publicity ads on the Madrid Metro Channel.
✓ Complete colour advertisement on a whole page in the the local newspaper, Gaceta of the Central
District.
✓ Several news reports on Telemadrid during the days of the consultation, also appearing on news
bulletins and a TV programme called ‘Madrid Directo’.
– National and International communication
The organization has actively worked on sending out press releases as well as summoning the media
both at national and international level in order to cover the public consultation (for example, by undertaking interviews).
In this respect, a selection of national media that included the press, radio, television and content providers for specialized media (economy, technology, e-Democracy etc.) as well as for general topics was
undertaken. These actions have been co-ordinated among different press cabinets from the organizers
and partners.
19
In total over 20 appearances have been made in different media be it the general press, various articles
in technology magazines and various appearances in local radios in Madrid.
• Presentation of the event
The afternoon prior to the initiation of the poll-site voting, the official presentation of the event took place.
The objective of this presentation was to explain the development of the consultation process, its characteristics and advantages.
During this presentation, a representative of the Council and some of its partners and collaborating institutions were given a limited period of time to express their opinion regarding the event.
Once the presentation had been completed, the organizers proceeded to set up the voting electoral board
right in front of the audience. The members of the board were designated by the Council, who selected
representatives from the consistory, neighbours and personalities related to the citizen participation.
Following the presentation of the event, all institutions, collaborating partners, observers and other relevant
personalities were invited to snacks and drinks.
• Presentation of the results
On the afternoon of the last day of the consultation, just after it had been closed, the results were tallied
and presented to the public. The objective of this presentation was to show the process of obtaining the
results, the advantages of using an electronic format and the first results with preliminary comments regarding them.
Once the data of the consultation had been obtained, Mr. Miguel Ángel Villanueva, executive manager of
the Area for Economy and Citizen Participation, showed the results to the public and briefly commented on
them.
• Internal communication
All partners that collaborated in the organization of the public consultation used internal communication
channels (intranets, meetings, magazines, etc) in order to increase awareness of the event amongst the
largest number of people possible, specially the ones related to e-Government.
Observers
In order to formally validate the public consultation, the Madrid City Council considered it very appropriate for
prestigious and renowned observers to be present. This is why representatives from various public administrations from Spain and international were invited, together with academics and experts in the area of eDemocracy, with the objective to take part in the various acts associated with Madrid Participa. Finally over
40 observers, both national and international attended the event, and offered very positive opinions regarding the initiative.
20
Corporate image
The corporate image of the initiative was developed from a logo designed for the project.
In addition, a search was undertaken for a new image, fresh and current
that would identify the project as vanguard that combines the concepts
of being modern and participative…
…in the final design there are a series of people drawn that form a construction, a metaphor that represents the idea that the participants can
influence the decisions which refer to the actions undertaken by the
council in their districts: the idea of citizen participation, together with
a fresh and dynamic image of society.
Images of the event
Below we outline some of the images that summarize the project Madrid Participa.
Neighbours centre La Corrala
21
Mesonero Romanos Centre
Urban exposure
22
Creation of the Consultation Board
Web www.madridparticipa.org
From the Madrid participa website, any citizen or interested visitor could find information, together with the 010
(Public service telephone number from the Council). From this web it was possible to undertake a variety of
actions, including requesting credentials using digital certificates from the FNMT (the certificate accepted by
the Madrid City Council for online transactions), casting their votes during the period the consultation was open,
or visualizing the final results of the process.
The basic structure of the web was focused on different types of audiences. An up to date and simple
design was chosen to maximise the usability for any
user as well as accessibility in such a way that with a
simple click it would be possible to register, vote or
see the results.
The final structure proposed for the web was the following:
• Home page: this is the initial page which is accessed. This is why it should offer information in a clear and
concise fashion, as well as easy navigation and good visibility of the rest of the sections.
• Information for citizens: In this section all the information needed for the consultation and its procedures is
contained with a focus on citizens in Madrid and potential participants.
23
• Information for visitors: Each section contains all the information needed regarding the consultation and its
procedure with a focus on visitors that are not citizens of Madrid, normally tourists and the press.
• Information regarding sponsors: includes an initial page with summarised information regarding the participation of the organizers of the consultation (Accenture, Madrid City Council and Scytl), and the sponsors
of the event (Telefónica, Oracle, Intel and Hewlett-Packard).
• News section: this section shows all news published by the organizers of the event, both in text and downloadable file format.
• Access to the registration, voting and results areas.
In addition a series of demos were set up to help users
familiarize themselves with the different voting systems.
During the months of May and June, the following information around visits was obtained, the official launch
of the web being on the 21st of May, the day after the official presentation of the initiative:
Month
Unique users
Visits
Pages viewed
May
274
470
3,554
June
1,523
3,555
44,597
MAY
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31 Average
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
Average
JUNE
01
24
02
Description of the
participation process
In this section, it is described in more depth the functional process followed by citizens to participate along
with he processes followeds to create the consultation board and obtaining the results.
Interactions with the citizen
From the citizen’s point of view, taking part in a public consultation meant that firstly a voting credential had
to be obtained, and later cast their vote. In addition to these two basic actions, the citizen could also be
informed by way of various channels: web page, the 010 number (Public Service telephone number from the
Madrid City Council) or the poll-site centres set up for this purpose. The following diagram shows the possible interactions with the citizen.
CITIZENS
Whay do I need to do?
Request credentials
Cast a vote
Web
www.madridparticipa.org
See results
010
Additional information
Polling stations
25
Processes followed during the consultation
Registering or obtaining credentials
In order to participate in the consultation, citizens had to first fulfil the essential requirements (be over the age of
16 and registered in the Central District), and they should hold the corresponding credentials, a sequence of 16
alphanumeric characters. This requirement was necessary in order to guarantee that only citizens from the Central District would be able to participate in the consultation and only once, in a secure manner. In order to obtain
this credential, the citizen had to identify themselves on site at one of the centres set up for this purpose and obtain
in exchange a closed envelope (like those with PIN numbers) and the instructions to participate using any of the
channels (See section 3.6, Participation channels, of the current document), or via Internet, using a digital certificate recognised by the Madrid City Council (currently the certificate from the FNMT), and obtain this credential on
the screen. The request could be made from the 14th to the 30th of June (that is, even during the voting days).
On the other hand, and foreseeing cases in which citizens would have previously obtained a credential but
may not have it with them when it came to voting (lost, forgotten, etc) the option to cancel the credential (prior
verification that a vote had not been cast with the credential) and request a new one was offered.
In order to manage this process, an ad-hoc application was developed by the Centro Municipal de Informática del Ayuntamiento de Madrid (CEMI), the Council computer centre. The process was controlled by
CEMI and available in the polling centers via intranet, allowing certain citizen details to be verified such as the
fact the “voter” resided in the Central District and had no credentials previously assigned, validating this information against the population census. If these credentials were met, a PIN type envelope was delivered to the
citizen with their credentials. With this system, personal information was also protected, given that it never left
the data bases of the CEMI, and as a result was never accessible by the participating firms, complying with
the Spanish Organic Law of Data Protection (LOPD).
Creation of the Consultation Board
The electronic voting process used in Madrid Participa gives control over the whole process to a consultation
board comprised of various members that should work collaboratively to develop and divide a series of cryptographic keys that open the ballot box and allow to obtain the results of the consultation. This committee was
constituted on the 28th of June at 19:45 and was formed by 8 people: 2 representatives of neighbours associations, 2 independent experts related to democracy and new technologies, and 4 representatives of the
Madrid City Council. In barely 10 minutes the Consultation Board had been constituted.
Voting process
After the Consultation Board had been constituted, the consultation process was opened to citizens at 9.p.m.
on that same day, the 28th of June. All citizens with a credential could cast their vote until 5 p.m on the 30th of
June following a simple and intuitive process via Internet with just a navigator that supported Java (virtually all
navigators currently on the market), or by way of mobile telephone SMS messages or using a Java application that could easily be downloaded on to mobiles with these properties (already 15% of those on the mar-
26
ket). The need for Java is derived from the fact that allows to process the vote accordingly to guarantee the
secure conditions and reliability needed in all delicate voting processes.
In order for participants to cast a vote, they needed to follow a simple procedure, identifying themselves at
the beginning of the process with the credentials requested. Once identified they could respond to each of
the questions selecting an option, confirming the options selected and sending a vote, that was then conveniently processed within the citizens PC or telephone before being sent to a remote server. In exchange, the
participant obtained a voting receipt that allowed them to verify that their vote had counted towards the end
results, once the election had been completed. This mechanism helped increase citizen’s confidence in the
electronic voting system, inherently complicated for them.
In addition, in order to facilitate participation among citizens, the 6 registration centres also acted as voting
centres, 5 of them being equipped with personal computers and printers, and the last with Tablet PCs that
facilitated the use of applications by way of optical pencils. In addition these centres had qualified personnel
and a demo environment, which advised citizens on the use of personal computers when voting.
EXAMPLE OF VOTING USING A JAVA MOBILE
EXAMPLE OF VOTING VIA WEB
Closing the process and tallying
Once the consultation was concluded at exactly 5 p.m. on the 30th of June, all votes received were downloaded onto a machine totally disconnected to any network located in the same room as the members of the
consultation board, who reconstructed the cryptographic key that protected the votes and went on to count
these. The tallying of the votes took exactly 37 seconds.
At 7 p.m. on the 30th of June the results were published in www.madridparticipa.org. In addition to the results,
the voting receipts of all the votes cast to obtain results were also published. By the 6th of July 2004, 189 visits had been registered on the receipts page. If we assume that each visit proceeds from a different voter who
wishes to verify that their vote has been used in the count, the probability of detecting a modification of 5% in
the votes is of 99,99%.
27
Technological
infrastructure
In this section the technological infrastructure used in Madrid Participa in the three different environments is
briefly described. These are: the poll-site centres, the system for collecting votes and registering citizens and
the tallying system. There is also explicit mention made of the security systems used.
Poll-site centres and remote voting
In order to take part in Madrid Participa, the citizen only needs to have a personal computer with a web browser that supports Java (virtually 100% of computers) and access to Internet. It was not necessary to install any
special software (only Java in those cases where the computer did not already have this) or additional hardware. If they did not have a computer, they could always participate using a mobile telephone, be it sending
SMS messages (100% of the telephones on the market) our using a Java application that could be downloaded to those telephones that supported this technology (15-20% of the market). Finally, if the citizen did
not have any of these options, they could go to one of the six centres set up for this purpose, where these
tools described were available to them.
These civil participation centres were set up with computers and internet access. A total of 25 Hewlett-Packard
(HP) personal computers were installed with Intel HT technology, 6 Tablet PCs HP with wireless technology
Intel Centrino and 24 printers HP to deliver the voting receipts. Each centre had an Internet access with an
ADSL connection of 256 Kbps provided by Telefónica Spain, together with ADSL routers that had wireless
capabilities. In addition, Telefónica Móviles provided 15 latest generation mobiles, including the TSM500, to
allow citizens who wanted to participate to do so with a mobile phone. All of these centres functioned correctly, and both the ADSL the computers and telephones showed high performance.
The configuration of each centre (with some small variation on the number) were as follows: a registration terminal, another for demonstration purposes and four so that citizens could cast votes, apart from the two Java
telephones per centre.
Voting and registration system
This system was composed of the servers responsible for receiving the votes of the citizens and managing
their registration, dimensioned to process large numbers of votes simultaneously in a secure environment.
28
More specifically, the voting system was composed of 9 HP Proliant DL360 and DL380 servers with Intel Xeon
technology, configured in pairs to guarantee high availability and with redundant components for the network,
disk and power modules.
Two of these machines acted as the web voting front-end, two more undertook the registration functions plus
the front-end of voting via mobile, another two collected votes, one functioned as a demo server, and the last
two were set up as a cluster of databases with an array of disks.
With regard to the basic software, all of the servers ran on Linux Red Hat Advance Server, the databases were
managed with Oracle Enterprise Edition with Real Application Cluster, and the front-ends used Oracle Internet Application Server Enterprise Edition, having used its tool Oracle Portals for the creation of the web Madrid
Participa. The application for secure electronic voting provided by Scytl, known as Pnyx ran on various modules in the front-end and on the servers that collected the votes.
The following figure shows its distribution.
FW HA
VRRP
Firewall
Firewall
PUBLIC VLAN
Load
Balancing
Demo
HP Proliant
DL360
Demo
Balanc1
VLAN
MANAGEMENT
Balancers
Balanc2
PRIVATE VLAN FRONT-END WITH LOAD BALANCER 1
2 Network
Load
Balancers
PRIVATE VLAN FRONT-END WITH LOAD BALANCER 2
WEB
2 HP Proliant
DL360
Mobile +
Voters 1
Register
Web
Web
Mobile +
Voters 2
Register
Mobile +
Voters
Register
2 HP Proliant
DL360
PRIVATE VLAN BACKEND 1
PRIVATE VLAN BACKEND 2
Voting
Servers
2 HP Proliant
DL360
DB
Servers
2 HP Proliant
DL380
y
Smart Array
Cluster
Storage
HA
Voting
Server 1
Server
Server
Voting
Server 2
Disk array
29
All of this voting and registration system was installed in a data centre of Telefónica Empresas, with a generous
band width of 5 Mbps for accessing the Internet in order to ensure a quick and smooth voting process. In addition, Telefónica provided two load balancers and two firewalls to guarantee perimetric security. On the other
hand, Telefónica also guaranteed physical security of the installation given that its data centre is a controlled centre whose access is restricted to only qualified personnel and those with the appropriate permissions.
Tallying system
The tallying system was made up of a HP Integrity RX machine with Intel Itanium2 technology and a HP Proliant EML 380 machine with Intel Xeon technology both running on Red Hat Advance Server. On the Integrity
machine there was also a Oracle Enterprise Edition data base running and on the Xeon machine a module
for mixing and counting from Pnyx, the secure electronic voting software from Scytl.
System security
Given that this was a public consultation, similar to a referendum, all of the electronic voting system should
be appropriately protected and offer security and privacy guarantees equivalent to those required in traditional
elections. This is why, apart from the perimetric security measures that have previously been explained, special solutions are needed that provide the confidence necessary for electronic voting. In order to do this, Pnyx
was used as a solution for secure electronic voting developed by Scytl, which provides the following:
• Guarantees of the integrity of the results, in such a way that no attack, by external crackers or the administrative technicians of the voting system, can modify, eliminate or add votes.
• The absolute privacy of the voter despite being correctly identified. No one should be able to know which
option the citizen has chosen.
• Voting receipts from voters so that they can individually and easily verify their vote once the consultation
has been completed, but avoiding the sell or coercion of the voters.
• The control of the whole process is done by the Consultation Board, whose members are with opposing
interests who normally are not technical.
• A voting mechanism which is simple and intuitive for citizens.
In order to offer these guarantees, Pnyx recommends the use of a voting client in the citizen’s device (PC,
telephone…), in such a way that the vote is processed adequately in the device before being sent to the
servers.
This is the reason why there is a need for Java in citizens´ computers and telephones. With this technology
a unique voting client can be established that can be used for various devices and different platforms, apart
from being present by defect in the majority of computers, avoiding as such the users having to download or
install any program.
30
Organization of
the project
The initiative organized and managed by Accenture and Scytl together with the Madrid City Council, has been
able to count with the support offered by a variety of companies committed with Electronic Democracy and
citizen participation: Telefónica, Oracle, Intel and Hewlett-Packard.
Project management
ACCENTURE
SCYTL
Local partners
CIBERVOLUNTARIOS.ORG
Technological partners
Observers
ACCENTURE
INTEL
HEWLETT-PACKARD
ORACLE
SCYTL
TELEFONICA
MADRID
CITY COUNCIL
Given the importance of the event (it is the most significant experience of this nature carried out so far in
Spain) it also met with the support and the advice from different personalities related to citizen participation
who acted as Observers.
Below we briefly describe the involvement of each of these.
Firms that participated in the project
Given the characteristics of the project, its dimensions and reach, the participation of various technological
partners has been required each contributing their experience and technology.
31
PROFILE
CONTRIBUTION
Web portal and
Definition, management and tracking of the project, coordination with the
different partners and providers which took part in the project.
management
e-Voting and
management
system
COMPANY
Accenture
Design and development of both the portal www.madridparticipa.org and
the corporate image.
Secure remote electronic voting system at all levels (web and mobile). Part
of the ad-hoc registry system.
Definition and tracking of the project, coordination with different partners
and providers which take part in the project. Technical management of the
project.
Scytl
Mobile
telephone
operator, Internet
connectivity and
hosting
Technology and access for customers voting from a mobile phone. DSL
connectivity for the polling centres and hosting for all e-voting systems.
Telefonica
Out-of-the-box
software
provider
Out-of-the-box software platform which offers the quality guarantees and a
high availability to the different components of the e-voting platform:
application and database servers with high levels efficiency and availability.
Oracle
Hardware
providers
Hardware platform where all the software environment was operated; it
offers the required high efficiency for those servers which took part in the
consultation process. Intel Itanium2, Xeon, HT and Centrino technologies
have been used in the equipment provided by HP: Tablet PCs, Personal
Computers and Proliant Servers.
Intel
Hewlett-Packard
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading organization in management consulting and information technologies that covers all
areas of management consulting and information technologies: consulting, Technology, Outsourcing and
Partnerships.
Due to our business network, our company has expanded its experience in consulting and outsourcing
by means of alliances, subsidiary firms and other capabilities with over 75,000 employees working in 47
countries.
With regard to e-Democracy, Accenture eDemocracy Services as a business unit in Accenture specialized in
electoral processes, has participated in the development, management and supervision of the whole experience both at a national and international level.
32
International experiences:
• Electoral processes developed for the city of New York, the state of Oklahoma and the secretary of State
in Florida.
• National Democrate Convention and Primary Democratic elections in Arizona
• The Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC)
• Internet and SMS voting pilot in Liverpool and Sheffield.
• Pilot for the presidential elections in France
• Elections to the ICANN (International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks).
National experiences:
• Public Opinion survey held in Hoyo de Pinares (Ávila).
About Scytl Online World Security
Scytl Online World Security S.A. is a leading firm in the development of secure electronic voting platforms.
Scytl designs and implements advanced cryptographic protocols with the objective of guaranteeing the critical security requirements for specific applications. The technology developed is protected internationally by
patents.
Scytl was founded in 2001 as spin-off from the Autonomous University of Barcelona after more than 10 years
of experience in investigation and development in the secure cryptographic software sector for electronic voting processes. It has numerous scientific results at an international level in this field, of which the following
can be highlighted: two European doctoral thesis regarding cryptographic systems for electronic voting,
undertaking in 1997 of the first binding elections in Europe via Internet, undertaking in 2003 the first pilot test
in remote electronic voting in Spain within the framework of public elections, and the integration in 2004 of
their security system for electronic voting called Pnyx.core in the permanent and binding portal for e-Government of the Swiss Canton of Neuchâtel.
Scytl´s cryptographic software for electronic voting systems is being distributed by the main firms in the
sector.
About Telefónica
The Telefónica Group is one of the world leading firms in the telecommunications sector. It is the reference
operator in the Spanish and Portuguese speaking markets and the sixth largest operator in the world based
on market capitalization. Its activity is fundamentally centered on the business of fixed and mobile telephones,
33
with broad band as the key tool for the development of both lines of business. It has a significant presence
in 16 countries, even though it is operational in approximately 40 countries. It has a strong presence in LatinAmerica where it is present in eight countries and has a clear strategy around growth. The client base of the
Telefónica Group is of nearly 100 million in the whole world. Telefónica is a completely private firm. It has nearly 1.7 million direct stockholders. Its social capital is currently divided up into 4,955,891,361 ordinary stocks
that are quoted on the Spanish Stock exchanges (Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia) as well as on other
stock exchanges such as London, Paris, Frankfurt, Tokio, New York, Lima, Buenos Aires, São Paulo and the
SEAQ International London Stock Exchange.
About Oracle
Oracle Corporation is the world leading provider of software solutions for companies. With an annual income
of 10,900 million dollars in more that 145 countries in the whole world and 42,000 employees.
It offers the technological platform Oracle 10g: application server, data bases, collaboration and development
tools, guaranteeing scalability, performance and security in all information systems.
With integrated enterprise management software (ERP), supply chain management (SCM) and client management (CRM) the Oracle E-Business Suite offers the most complete range of solutions guaranteeing
improved business flows, times and processes. A packaged version in implementation and price is available
for the small and medium sized firm: Oracle E-Business Suite Special Edition.
It is important to highlight the development of mobile solutions both within the technological platform and on
wireless applications. As a compliment to these products, Oracle also offers as consulting, education, on
demand and support services.
Oracle´s market expansion strategy is based on its network of technological partners for whom the Oracle
Partner Network is available. In this online programme apart from forming part of a community and collaborating with it, it has tools which are focused on: development, marketing and sales. As a key factor of these
sources it is important to note the training plan. Oracle has dedicated work teams at a global level to the attention and development of these partners as a distribution channel for their offer.
About Intel
Intel Corporation is the main provider of installed microprocessors installed in computers, servers and wireless devices in the whole world, and one of the main producers of products for communications and networks. The company is one of the drivers behind the PC and Internet revolution that has transformed firms
and society. Founded in the 1968, Intel created the first micro processor and today provides the sectors of
communication and information processors, boards, systems and software components that drive computers, servers, systems and communication networks. Intel’s objective is to become the main provider of components for the Internet economy.
34
Intel works with the main governmental agencies in the whole world and with the main developers of software
and system integrators in order to respond to the challenges that they face when incorporating innovative
technologies destined to offer better services, improved access to these services, increase productivity in
workers and fulfil the demands of citizens and the market with solutions based on open standards on Intel®
architecture.
About Hewlett-Packard
HP is a provider of technology solutions for individuals, firms and institutions in the whole world. The company’s offer covers information technology infrastructure, personal information and access devices, global services, imaging and printing. Income during the 2003 fiscal period which ended on October the 31st was of
73,100 million dollars.
Observers
Over 40 observers went to Madrid to take part in the experience. These include people and organizations both
national and international that have participated as advisors, providing feedback to enabled the definition and
realization of non-technical aspects during the e-consultation process.
• Recognized experts in those topics related to citizen participation and Electronic Democracy in socio-political, technological and legal aspects.
• Those responsible for electoral processes from various administrations and political representatives related to citizen participation.
Local partners
The collaboration of cyber volunteers was essential for the process of communicating and stimulating the participation process. This non-profit organization was involved informing and training citizens about the new
technologies used in the e-consultation.
Council participation
Madrid is the capital of Spain and the biggest city in the country with nearly 3,500,000 inhabitants. The central district is the historic nucleus of the city, and has nearly 165,000 inhabitants, with a large proportion of citizens that come from foreign countries.
35
The Madrid City Council represented an essential part of this project around citizen participation making its
complete implication absolutely indispensable. Within the Council, the Government commission on Economy
and Citizen Participation and specifically the Innovation and Technology and Citizen Participation sections
have been the ones that have been responsible for putting in place all the accesses necessary from the
Administration to undertake this project.
Below we describe both the benefits that undertaking this pioneering initiative in Spain has meant for the
Council as well as the terms of its contribution to the event.
Benefits
This pilot has allowed the Council to position itself as a reference in participative Electronic Democracy.
• Establish new services for citizens that are integrated with new technology solutions.
• Develop a positioning and experience for future initiatives.
• Image and reference in Electronic Democracy and citizen participation through the use of new technologies.
• A high exposure to media, given that it was an event with no precedents in Spain.
Contribution
The contribution of the Council to the pilot in citizen participation has been centered on the support and
organization of the survey in itself. All of this within the framework of the agreement signed between the Council and the organizing firms (Accenture and Scytl).
The contribution on behalf of the council to the infrastructures needed to carry out the event such as offices,
human resources and materials, etc. together with efforts of communicating have constituted important elements during the time of the initiative. The importance of the contribution by CEMI (City Council IT Unit) should
also be noted in terms of the registration system and distribution of credentials among citizens.
36
Conclusions
The Madrid City Council has become with this initiative baptized with the name Madrid Participa, one of the
pioneering regions in understanding and putting in place article 70 bis, section 3 of the Spanish law that regulates the bases of local legislation (Law 57/2003 of the 16th of December), where it is specified that districts
should encourage the interactive use information and communication technology with neighbours for […]
undertaking […] surveys and in cases public opinion polls.
Through of this pilot initiative, the Council has taken the first step towards understanding the opinion of residents, in this case those registered in the Central District, and helping them to participate in daily decision
making and daily activities in their community. With this pilot experience, the Madrid City Council has taken
the route of creating more direct relations with its citizens who have positively appraised this initiative according to the result from the surveys.
The main objective of the Madrid Participa initiative was more to encourage citizen participation than the technology used. Its use in these citizen participation initiatives is not an alternative to traditional channels, but
rather constitutes a compliment to these, very useful in terms of broadening the use of information technology, and in so doing reducing the digital divide and allowing a more simple participation from those sectors
that are less prone to taking part in these initiatives.
As a result, the participation rate has been a little under 1%, which although may appear to be small figure
compared to the participation obtained in electoral processes, it is not so considering the nature of the opinion poll. The peculiarities of the District where it was launched and the fact that it is such an innovative procedure means that a higher percentage of participation is quite difficult to reach. The sociological report of
this experience supports these conclusions.
Another important objective achieve has been the fact that the technology used has been tested from the
point of view of security provided to the process, the robustness offered by the platform, and the use of different participation channels, all of this while not forgetting the ease of use and the confidence generated
among citizens, which was absolutely necessary to validate the use of these types of solutions. With this pilot
we have demonstrated the technological maturity that exists in order to undertake permanent participation
and electronic voting processes in Spain, and therefore position Spanish public entities at the world forefront
of these types of efforts.
37
We should recall that Madrid Participa is a pilot initiative from which, thanks to the sociological report undertaken by independent experts and the document now at hand, we can extract technological and sociological
characteristics that will help the Council consider certain aspects for improvement or to encourage in the light
of future initiatives. On this occasion, nearly one thousand people wanted to participate and in this way
express their opinion to the authorities of their city.
Madrid Participa has established the basis for the future of e-Democracy. Until the moment Government
had been concerned with the development of e-Administration, but had put aside the development of initiatives aimed at encouraging citizen participation by way of new channels that new technologies make
available to us.
With experiences such as Madrid Participa, administrations are closer to reaching e-Government. There is still
some road ahead, but we now have the tools that make it possible to develop the new services that surround
e-Democracy: security, responsibility, confidence and legislation.
The Public Administration of the 21st Century is now closer.
38

Electronic Democracy and Citizen Participation

Transcription

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