Elector information won’t be compromised or land in the hands of foreign entities, says an agency spokesman, despite an Elections Canada (EC) plan to introduce electronic voting lists (E-Lists) and store some data in the Cloud. .Data will be stored only on Canadian servers for “administrative uses” and there are currently no plans to “share or upload any data related to electors,” said Matthew McKenna. “It’s more about communicating internally in order to get the work done than it is about the actual business information.”.“The E-List solution is new. We haven’t yet fully launched it, but that project relies entirely on Canadian-based servers. It’s not a Cloud initiative.”.The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security is also working to protect EC’s Information Technology (IT) infrastructure, he said..The denials come after concerning stories emanating from government sources seemed to suggest Canadian electoral data could become vulnerable..For example, last year the same cyber centre issued dire warnings about the multiple risks of electronic poll book, or (voter lists,) being stored on The Cloud — a network of data centres that includes computer servers outside of Canada..Then last week, security concerns were raised when Blacklock’s Reporter revealed Stephane Perreault, chief electoral officer, delivered a report last November to Parliament on the 2023-24 Departmental Plan to “make progress in digital strategy.”.Elections Canada is forging ahead with these plans, despite objections to E-Lists raised from many Canadian quarters, including MPs..Perreault was imprecise about whether E-Lists might be stored on the Cloud..“Throughout 2023-2024 the agency will work toward modernizing its tools, services, and technologies. Notably Election Canada will invest in migrating data and applications to the Cloud in order to increase the agency’s performance, agility and flexibility,” wrote Perreault..He told a committee Elections Canada “will pilot the use of an electronic list of electors to support voting at any table in the designated polling station should a byelection occur in 2023.”.“Our goal is to be in a position to deploy electronic lists more broadly in 2025.”.Neither the departmental plan nor Perreault specified what information will be stored on the Cloud, or anything about safeguards to secure it..Not to worry, said McKenna..“The servers related to that, they’re all in Canada, in our own data centre, and partnering with data centres.”.“Elections Canada does not store electoral information outside Canada. We work closely with the Center for Cybersecurity to protect our IT infrastructure.”.“The E-List solution will be supported by a secure software solution developed by EC and the data will be stored on a secure database in Canada, accessed through a secure private network... We thoroughly test all new initiatives and technology before introducing them into the electoral process, and only do so once we know it can maintain or reinforce the integrity of the electoral process. Our plans are to first deploy E-Lists at a byelection before introducing them on a wider scale.”.But in March 2022, the Government of Canada’s website listed potential security dangers — noting it wasn’t an exhaustive list — from the Cyber Centre concerning electronic poll book, or voting list, systems. They include data integrity attacks, cryptographic attacks, wireless attacks, malware attacks, data breaches and system vulnerabilities..Nonetheless, Elections Canada said E-Lists provide a way to deal with the challenges of a diminishing workforce..“A general election currently requires over 200,000 poll workers and recruitment is increasingly difficult,” said McKenna..Currently, poll workers use a paper copy of the National Register of Electors..Perplexingly, Perrault also told the committee his office hasn’t investigated any election interference leads..But that’s not his mandate. The Commissioner of Canada Elections is tasked with enforcing and ensuring compliance with the Canada Elections Act, including conducting investigations into potential contraventions..Meanwhile, Elections Canada has no intention to move away from the paper ballot system, said McKenna..“We do speak about the benefits of paper ballot voting with respect to the fact they’re user friendly, they can’t be hacked, they leave a paper trail that could be reviewed after the fact should there be any sort of discrepancy or questioning.”.“Ultimately, it is prescribed in the Canada Elections Act that that’s how Canadians vote,” said McKenna..“And ultimately, any move towards a different system would have to come from Parliament.”.In other words, we must trust the Liberal government not to mess with the safeguards, and the checks and balances that only paper ballots ensure..And we must trust hackers, who repeatedly breach the most secure government and corporate systems, are too dumb to figure out how to meddle with Canada’s elections..Certainly, the plan now is not to let elector data pass through the Cloud..And McKenna said: “There’s no plans in the near future to do anything like that.”.What assurances do Canadians, many of whom are opposed to the E-lists they’re getting anyway, have that plans won’t change?.None.
