Federal Ministry of the Interior, Vienna/Austria, 19 December 2013

An informal meeting on a possible update of the Council of Europe Recommendation Rec(2004)11 on legal, operational and technical standards for e-voting was held in Vienna in December 19, 2013. The purpose and objective of the meeting was to examine in some more detail the expediency and requirements of updating Recommendation Rec(2004)11, as suggested by the 4th biennial intergovernmental meeting to review developments in the field of e-voting since the adoption of Rec(2004)11, held in July 2012.

All participants in the meeting concurred with the view that the Council of Europe continues to be the only organisation in Europe that is able to set intergovernmental standards in the field of e-voting. Taking into account the issues discussed during the meeting and in view of the high probability that in the medium and long term, the number of electoral systems will comprise some electronic features, the participants agreed on the fact that there are a number of strong and valid reasons for updating Recommendation Rec(2004)11.