Voting slip scanned - data safety?

[Lucyintheskywithcubiczirconia]

I went and voted this morning, it was the first time I have seen them use an ipad to verify my identity/ check me off etc. then they scanned my ballot paper before giving it to me. Walking home I had the chance to wonder about the safety of this data. It felt like my vote wasn’t anonymous. Can anybody knowledgeable about this system please tell me more or how to find out more specific details? How long are voting slips kept after elections? Will they all be scanned by the vote counters tonight? Data breaches, hacking and corruption are so common now, simply saying the system is very secure is meaningless I’m afraid. It has put me off ever voting again. Thanks in advance for any specific details on this.

I think it something to do with the count and polling stations. They can’t identify you just the polling station that the voting slip came from .

Your voting slip IS NOT linked to you. Simple as that.

Thank you both. To clarify, I was asking for specific detailed information about this system or where to find out.

Thank you, please can you tell me where I can find this out?

Thank you, please can you tell me where one can find this specific information?

Google it

Duty to maintain secrecy | Electoral Commission

Your vote is private, not anonymous.

It would be possible, with access to all the systems, to link your vote to you - this was possible with the paper system too, it's not new, and is there as a safeguard against fraud.

The process is run by the electoral commission, who are independent, and a court order would be required to access any information.

Thank you, I have, and couldn’t find it. Does anyone please know where I can find more detailed information? The comments so far don’t fill me with hope!

I just posted the link but here it is again.

Duty to maintain secrecy | Electoral Commission

Ah thank you very much… This is what I wanted to know!

This.

And the ballot papers won't be scanned at the count as the scanning/ checking for fraudulent activity happens in the polling station - the process you went through. When the ballots arrive at the count, number of votes is verified and they are counted.

Thank you very much! Your link wasn’t there when I posted. Much appreciated!

Yes it is linked to you. When you vote the polling station staff will write your voter number next to your slip number on a separate list. This list is sealed and kept separate and secure. I believe it requires a court order for this to be opened and examined, certainly it is only done in the most extreme of circumstances, if fraud is suspected. But yes, in theory within very strict legal limits, it is possible to follow the paperwork and find out who an individual has voted for. That’s partly why the rules around secrecy are so strict, to prevent people accessing this.

Sorry OP I’ve not heard of any electronic systems before. Which nation are you in?

Thank you so much, I really appreciate these informative responses!

I’m in England, hadn’t seen it done this way before either which is why I had more questions… the polling station staff said they only had one so it was causing a bigger queue than normal and they were worried in case it stopped working!

er, it is, you know.

So if you write obscenities on you ballot paper they can trace it back to you? How has this been implemented without public consultation/consent? Just shows the bunch of see you next tuesday's the establishment is.

It’s definitely linked to you. I’m a swing voter with a 100% win rate. The amount of phone calls, leaflets, door knocks I get from parties is unreal. My partner who is a stable voter never gets anything. I am quite certain the parties do analyse the data and they do know who votes for what.

It's not new, it's been possible to trace votes to the voter for quite some time, but it would be very rarely done and only for a very good reason, such as suspected electoral fraud. Nobody cares if you put obscenities all over your ballot paper, nobody will be tracing you for that.

Maybe this is a trial - our busy London polling station was being operated by the usual paper lists and manual ticking off.

Be interested to hear if anyone else has encountered this.

Thanks, I did not spoil my paper because I wanted to register my vote but I don't see how this could be implemented with no public consultation and no publicity. I was taught many years ago that our elections were based on absolute anonymity. This is yet another step to the demise of our once great democracy. I have spoken to several friends and family and non of them had their ballot papers scanned. This will be the first thing I discuss with whoever gets voted in here.

Thanks, that would be an astronomical breach of the UK GDPR. I will be exploring this further.

There has to be a way of linking slips to voters- for example in cases of suspected fraud or tampering. If there was absolutely no way of doing this how would the system stand up to scrutiny if investigations were needed.

Don't worry OP, no one will find out that you voted reform.

😂I couldn't care less 😂