Challenges of electronic voting discussed in an OSCE seminar in Helsinki

Press release 404/2008
24 October, 2008

Representatives from OSCE participating States will convene for an Expert Seminar on Electronic Voting in Helsinki on 26-27 October. The seminar is hosted by Finland, which is the current OSCE Chairmanship.

The seminar focuses on the best practices and challenges of e-voting in the OSCE participating States. The participants will have a chance to visit Karkkila, Kauniainen and Vihti, three Finnish municipalities where electronic voting is piloted in the Finnish municipal elections on Sunday, 26 October.

Representatives from Estonia, Russia and the USA will tell about the experiences of e-voting in their own countries. In Estonia, for example, citizens were offered the option to vote on the Internet in the parliamentary election of 2007.

OSCE Special Envoy on Election-Related Issues Kimmo Kiljunen will open the seminar. Keynote speeches in the seminar will be held by, for example, Jyrki Kasvi, MP, Arto Jääskeläinen, Director of Elections from the Ministry of Justice, Ambassador Tom Grönberg, who has taken part in several OSCE election observation missions this year in the capacity of the Chairmanship's representative, and Jonathan Stonestreet, Election Adviser from the OSCE/ODIHR, and Susanne Caarls, Programme Advisor from the Council of Europe.

During its OSCE Chairmanship, Finland has emphasised the implementation of OSCE commitments related to elections and election observation in all the 56 participating States of the organisation. By organising this Expert Seminar on Electronic Voting, Finland further contributes to the dialogue on election-related issues.

Further information: Mr Aleksi Härkönen, Head of the Finnish OSCE Chairmanship Task Force, tel. +358 9 160 55496, GSM +358 400 330 406; Ms Ann-Mari Fröberg, Second Secretary, OSCE Chairmanship Task Force, tel. +358 9 160 55493, GSM +358 400 183 421.