Electronic Voting & Counting Technologies - IFES

Pilot PrerequisitesPilot testing for new voting and counting technologies may take place inmock polls or during scheduled elections.It is important to recognize there are certain issues that need to be addressed before anypilot project can be initiated. Other prerequisites are essential if the pilot is to be as effectiveas possible. These issues are fundamental to the way in which the pilot project is planned andconducted and should be established before this pilot process starts.Pilot Project MandateIt is essential that any pilot project conducted is provided a clear mandate. There are a numberof issues that will need to be defined to provide this clear mandate — the type of pilot projectto be conducted, pilot locations, technological solutions that should be piloted (single solutionor multiple solutions) and the issues that need to be explored in detail through the pilot.Type of PilotThe type of pilot can vary in a number of different ways and situations. Options in this regardare as follows:• Mock Pilot — Electronic voting and counting technologies solutions could be piloted inan entirely different electoral situation, a mock electoral situation. However, piloting thesetechnologies in a mock electoral situation is likely to skew the results of the pilot as itmay result in a very different profile of electorate taking part (only interested, educatedcitizens) than the normal voters who would need to use the electronic voting or countingtechnologies. This may mean that the results of the pilot are not a good representation ofInternational Foundation for Electoral Systems 51