Voters in Amsterdam and 34 other Dutch cities may be using paper and pencil instead of computerized voting machines in national elections next month.
The government on Monday banned the use of one common type of computer voting machine, fearing that secret ballots may not be kept secret. It ordered a review of all electronic machines after the Nov. 22 election.
Government Renewal Minister Atzo Nicolai said the move was necessary after an investigation found the machines made by Sdu NV emitted radio signals that a technology-savvy spy could use to peek at a voters' choices from a distance of up to several dozen meters (yards).
"What can be detected is the image on the screen that's visible to the voter, by which his voting could be monitored," Nicolai said in a letter to parliament.
"In short, the machines made by the company Sdu can now be tapped, and there are no technical measures that can be taken before the upcoming elections that would prevent this tapping and guarantee the secrecy of the ballot."
He said he had revoked the permits for all the machines, about 10 percent of all voting machines used in the country.
A sample of the other machines used in next month's vote will be tested before the results are certified to ensure against fraud, Nicolai said.
The turnabout came after a group called "We Don't Trust Voting Computers" protested the vulnerability of electronic voting to fraud or manipulation.
"I think this will have repercussions far beyond Holland" said Rop Gonggrijp, one of the group's founders, after Monday's announcement.
"Holland was one of the first countries to use e-voting widely, certainly in Europe, and it has played a leading role in adoption of voting machines, so it's only natural that Holland be one of the first to realize there are drawbacks," he said, calling the adoption of voting machines a "hasty decision."
Officials with Sdu, the maker of the banned "NewVote" voting machines, could not immediately be reached for comment. Dutch media cited a company executive saying the machines were built to government specifications and he was planning to protest the decision.
The Dutch parliament summoned Nicolai to defend the decision in an extra session Tuesday.
"I realize what this change to the voting process means for these 35 cities" Nicolai wrote. He asked voting councils, the Interior Ministry and other election-related groups to help come up with alternatives quickly.
The City of Amsterdam said in a statement it now plans to use a traditional paper ballot and red-colored pencils. "We'll have to pull those red pencils out of the basement again and sharpen them up," mayor Job Cohen told NOS news.
Machines, made by Nedap NV, are widely used in Germany, France and other European countries.
Gonggrijp predicted that many local and national governments will stop using current models of Nedap and other voting machines within a year.
But the chief technical officer of Nedap's voting systems division said he was confident the machines were secure.
"Nedap is pleased about the concerns and that people are becoming interested in the functioning of voting systems, since that's the cornerstone of democracy," said Matthijs Schippers.
He said the machines were no less vulnerable to fraud than paper ballots, which also can be manipulated if unprotected.