Process for ensuring ballot secrecy and software used

East Sussex County Council did not have the information requested.

Dear East Sussex County Council,

On the 6th May, 2021 - I entered a polling station to find that my voter registration was electronic. That is fine. I then note that the PO's scanned a QR code on my ballot papers and advised me that these papers would be linked to me to avoid voter fraud.

When contacting your Electoral office, they were unable to give me much information. The information that they did give was as follows:

- This software was recommended by the current standing Government
- This software did not appear to be externally verified for integrity
- This software did track who had voted, and the ballot numbers associated with the voter
- There was no public documents available providing insight into the new software, it's intended usage and the security practices in place.

I would like to formally request the following information from yourselves, to confirm that the Ballot Secrecy Act of 1872 is being observed and that it is impossible without a court order to associate my vote with my name and/or address.

1. The name and vendor of the software in use
2. The policies in place to protect a voters identity
3. The procedures required to associate a voters details with a ballot
4. The number of people who have access to both the list of people issued with ballots (Attendees) and the ballot numbers assigned to each voter/register number. (Including those within the external company the data is stored with)
5. Information on any security practices in place to ensure that one cannot concatenate information from these documents to ascertain a voters selection on a ballot.
6. Finally, information on where this data is being stored and how long it is being stored for on this digital system. (I have already been made aware it is stored offsite by an external company)

Yours faithfully,

P. Bishop
Resident of BN22

Freedom of Information, East Sussex County Council

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Customer Services Team

Communities, Economy and Transport

01273 482913
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East Sussex County Council

Information request
Our reference: 8555780
Your reference: [FOI #753165 email]

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A new FOI request has been sent directly to Eastbourne Borough Council based on the reply from East Sussex County Council. This can be reviewed at: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p...