Estonia last week became the first country to open its local elections to internet voting on a nationwide level, although only about one percent of the votes were cast online, AP reported.

Estonia, with a population of roughly 1.4 million, counted a total of about half a million votes in its local government council elections, according to preliminary numbers on the Estonian National Electoral Committee’s website. Roughly 6,000 of those votes were cast online, according to preliminary town-level tallies posted on the site.

Election officials told the Associated Press that they considered the elections a success and had received no reports of glitches or attempted hacking. In January, they tested the system by having approximately 800 residents in the city of Tallinn register their responses to a poll.

The online system works through use of an electronic identification card. Since 2002 the card has been mandatory for all Estonian residents older than 15. The card is intended as a means of proving one’s identity at any place — from banks to government offices — that normally requires identification to process forms or transactions.

To vote online, users must insert their cards into readers connected to their computers and log on to the voting website. Once authenticated, they cast their ballots through an encrypted system and then affix their digital signatures to verify the selections before transmitting them.

Estonia is said to be the first country that has carried out internet voting nationwide in an actual election, although France, the UK and the U.S. have also conducted pilots.

Popularity: 1% [?]