Useful links:
Council News | Council Press Releases | sQuid schemes - Council

eMoney News

Council voting system uses smart cards
24 Sep 2009

Smart card technology is used to vote for motions at Suffolk County Council, it has emerged.

The local authority has a system which sees councillors log into a network with their smart cards.

According to the Ipswich newspaper the Evening Star, they then place the cards into a slot "in a delegate unit on the table in front of them and ... vote by pressing a button".

The electrical voting system is seen as a more efficient way of running a ballot.

However, the publication was commenting on the matter after it was revealed that former leader of the council Jane Hore used someone else's smart card to register a second vote in a meeting last year.

She has now been banned from standing for election for the next 12 months.

At the end of last year, similar technology to that used by Suffolk council was recognised for its innovation within the payments industry.

UK eMoney network sQuidcard was acknowledged by Gemalto e-Payments Terminals for "innovative design and features".

The technology was said to have "significant appeal" to both merchants and customers in the small payments arena.