Outsourcing Democracy: Losing Control of E-Voting in the Netherlands

Policy & Internet, Vol. 2, No. 4, 2010

16 Pages Posted: 2 Nov 2010

See all articles by Anne-Marie Oostveen

Anne-Marie Oostveen

University of Oxford - Oxford Internet Institute

Date Written: October 29, 2010

Abstract

Outsourcing IT services is a common practice for many governments. This case-study shows that outsourcing of elections is not without risk. Studying electronic voting in the Netherlands through documents obtained with Freedom of Information requests, we see that government agencies at both local and national level lacked the necessary knowledge and capability to identify appropriate voting technology, to develop and enforce proper security requirements and to monitor performance. Furthermore, over the twenty years that e-voting was used in the Netherlands, the public sector became so dependent on the private sector that a situation evolved where Dutch government lost ownership and control over both the e-voting system and the election process.

Keywords: Public Sector Outsourcing, e-Voting, Public-Private Relationship, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

Suggested Citation

Oostveen, Anne-Marie, Outsourcing Democracy: Losing Control of E-Voting in the Netherlands (October 29, 2010). Policy & Internet, Vol. 2, No. 4, 2010, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1701190

Anne-Marie Oostveen (Contact Author)

University of Oxford - Oxford Internet Institute ( email )

1 St. Giles
University of Oxford
Oxford OX1 3PG Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire OX1 3JS
United Kingdom

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