Governance2.Org

The Estonian Parliament approved a measure allowing citizens to vote by mobile phone in the next parliamentary elections in 2011. This is a step up from from Internet ballots that Estonians were allowed to cast in last year’s parliamentary vote.
The mobile-voting system, which has already been tested, requires that voters obtain free, authorized chips for their phones, which in turn, would  verify the voter’s identity and authorize participation in the electronic voting system.
Kaidro, spokesman of the SK Certification Center, which issues personal ID cards in Estonia, said he expects the 2011 vote to be the first of its kind, though he said neighboring Finland and Sweden possess the software and technical capabilities to conduct a similar “cellular election.”
Estonian officials said the Internet voting system in 2007 proved secure despite worries about hacker attacks, identity fraud and vote count manipulation. [Via]

So says the fifth study by IDC India to assess the performance of e-governance projects across 21 Indian states. The results are based on a two level survey that assesses every state’s IT vision, implementation plan and ease of use of the various services. It also factors in IT allocation for new projects in 2007-08, their implementation and user satisfaction.
Apart from its high IT spend, Tamil Nadu has also scored high on parameters such as citizen and business satisfaction.
The other states in the top five include Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh. Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have climbed three spots over last year’s ranking to the number one and the number three position respectively. Delhi, which occupied the top slot last year, has slipped to the third place this year. Continue Reading »