Online election voting 'not on the cards' due to 'cyber-attack risk', says Interior

An increase in the threat of cyber-crime means Secretary of State for security José Antonio Nieto says there is no chance of doing away with paper ballot slips in the near future, despite the technology already being in place and ready to go.

“For the moment paper voting slips are the only guaranteed method,” says Nieto, who admits that the State electoral board advised seven years ago that voting should go digital.

“Very few countries would dare to do so these days with the rising danger of hacking,” he explains.

“There's no guarantee voting papers would not be tampered with if they were submitted online.

“Nowadays, electronic voting is even less of a possibility than it was 10 years ago – it's a risk we cannot and must not take.”

Nieto recalled that several countries, notably France, have suffered hacking issues with digital voting.

This means Spaniards overseas, and expats at local or European election time, will still have to rely on postal votes and run the risk they may not receive their ballot papers on time.