On the occasion of the Europe's 60th Anniversary, one of Italy's figures who dedicated his life to transparency, working to give Europe its first electronic voting system was Enzo Costa.
A man behind the scenes working to give this great breakthrough towards a Europe without a voice, without a vote but a miracle of clicks on a terminal to say for, against or abstention - an opinion was born expressed in as many languages as needed and which now reach 25.
At the beginning, in 1957 there were only 5 States, Benelux, France and Italy then little by little other European countries entered until the present European Union we know today was formed. Elections using the newly made Electronic Voting System where all the States' Members of the European Parliament cast their votes for the first time, took place in 1979.
And as the saying goes, the cogs in the wheel started to turn.
There are at present 27 Member States who have at their finger tips, a well-organised, state- of- the- art, enhanced apparatus developed according to all the needs of a modern conglomeration of the most diverse multilingual, multi ethnic, boasting different faiths, to represent their countries via our Electronic Voting System.
I say "our" because behind the scenes there were teams ranging from simple operators to the most experienced technological experts always ready to design, propose and deliver the latest innovations to this immense, ongoing, gargantuan invention - the European Parliament.
Let us mention a few of these innovations and what they mean to democracy and transparency.
- Secrecy as the terminal houses a compartment that hides MEP (Member of Parliament) voting intentions.
- Rapidity. There are often over 1000 votes cast a day.
- Availability of the MEP's language received via qualified Simultaneous Translators, and in the offing even a possibility of a finger print system to avoid members from voting for their counterparts.
There are further many Commission Rooms where MEP's belonging to the same political groups may discuss and decide upon issues and where there are voting terminals available for their use.
In conclusion, this Italian achievement that originated some decades ago, continues because of an ongoing dedication inspired by the spirit of great team collaboration still headed by its originator.
