The Justice Ministry, which drafted the amendments, says the bill will provide legal, organizational and financial possibilities for establishment of the information system for online voting, as well as testing of the system before legalizing for all levels of elections and referendums.
If the bill is approved by the parliament, the ministry will draft amendments to individual laws on parliamentary, municipal and presidential elections that would allow electronic voting.
Lithuania’s parliament has already discussed bills on online voting on a few occasions, however, the amendments were never approved.
Supporters of online voting expect the system to boost voter turnout, while critics fear that the poor cyber security situation may make the online voting system an easy target of an attack aimed at changing the election outcome. Questions are also raised regarding anonymity.