Interesting article about England's eVoting pilots, and the hope for increased voter turnout. The last local elections in the UK attracted only 1/3 of registered voters. And while the various (smaller scale) pilots that ran last year all saw increased turnout, most people are unconvinced that these new iniatitives will make much of a difference. "Some people would say that these new measures will increase turnout fairly substantially the first time round," sayd Dennis Reed, director of thinktank Local Government Information Unit thinktank, "then people will get just as used to it as the ordinary type of voting and get concerned about whether their vote really matters."

I'm not going to get into a whole debate about apathy and democracy, but the actual technology and execution seems very well thought out. Registered voters were sent two smart cards in the mail, one with an identification number and the other with a passcode. Both must be used, and each were mailed seperately, which is a simple, but relatively effective security measure. The cards can be inserted into kiosks, or the numbers on each card entered online, or via wireless text messaging. The voting begins officially tomorrow, and will continue for several days.