Free and fair elections and referendums are one of the cornerstones of democracy. The integrity of the electoral process is fundamental to maintaining public trust in the legitimacy of democratic institutions. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) play an increasing role in all spheres of life, including in election administration.

On 9 February 2022, the Ministers’ Deputies adopted CM(2022)10-final Committee of Ministers Guidelines on the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in electoral processes in Council of Europe member States, which have been prepared by the European Committee on Democratic Governance (CDDG).

The Guidelines aim at ensuring the integrity of the electoral process and therefore enhancing citizens’ trust in democracy. They propose a set of requirements and safeguards to be introduced in the legislation and practices of the Council of Europe member States when using ICT in the different stages of the electoral process. The Guidelines cover the use of ICT solutions by, or on behalf of the relevant electoral authorities, in all the stages of the electoral process, except e-voting and e-counting which are covered by the Recommendation (2017)5 on standards for e-voting.

The guidelines adopt a security by design approach and encourage competent authorities to find a balance between requirements such as usability, accessibility, transparency, secrecy or privacy, to name a few.