ODIHR deploys election expert team to follow new voting technologies in Norway

The OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) deployed an election expert team to Norway on 27 June 2011 to follow a pilot project on new voting technologies (NVT) that was put in place for the forthcoming 12 September municipal elections.

Norway intends to use NVT in 10 municipalities, where voters will be able to vote remotely or via the Internet. Voters will also be given the option of voting using traditional ballots.

During the course of its visit, the team will follow the use of NVT with regard to OSCE commitments for democratic elections. Members of the team will meet with relevant state authorities, including the Data Protection Inspectorate and the Norwegian computer emergency response team, as well as Internet service providers and non-governmental organizations.

The team will visit Norway several times during the project’s implementation to follow the procedures for Internet voting, including the setup and configuration, the start and close of voting, the counting of electronic votes, and data destruction. The team is made up of analysts from three OSCE participating States.