Article by Javier Natividad, published in El País, Cinco Días, Opinion on July 27, 2023
Lessons from a summer election: When will it be possible to vote online in Spain?
In this opinion piece, Javier Natividad, commercial director of Víntegris, reflects on the lessons learned from the elections of July 23rd regarding postal voting.
The recent general election broke at least one historical record: the number of people who exercised their right to vote by mail. From a practical standpoint, the elections of July 23rd generated concerns and posed dilemmas for all those who were preparing to enjoy their holidays or were away from home. It is no surprise that nearly 2.5 million people throughout Spain opted for an alternative—the only one currently available—to voting in person at the polls. Official figures from the postal service indicate that the volume of votes accepted represents a 99.08% increase compared to the total number of votes accepted in the previous general election held in April 2019. It is no wonder that nearly 20,000 additional staff were needed to handle the demand for this process.
Undoubtedly, voting by mail has been a solution, but for many people it may fall short. Why not make online voting a reality? In a society immersed in digital transformation and with the upcoming addition of digitally native voters, it seems more of a necessity than a possibility.
Electronic Voting
In several countries, including Spain, digital voting has been under study for decades and has been introduced in some cases through non-binding pilot projects. For example, the Basque Government developed its own electronic voting system, called Demotek , which was used in various electoral processes, such as elections at the University of the Basque Country, those of Athletic Club de Bilbao, and a pilot test in the elections to the Parliament of Catalonia. However, the project did not succeed due to a lack of support. 
In different autonomous communities, electronic voting tests have been carried out in the last 20 years using various methodologies: magnetic stripe, touch screen or even via the Internet, but none of them obtained outstanding results to promote their generalization.
In other countries around us, such as France, for example, citizens abroad can vote electronically. But the reality is that, even in 2023, Estonia remains the only European country where any voter can exercise this right online. And it doesn’t stop there, as the Baltic nation also has many other tools to facilitate citizen participation in political life digitally. The digitization of public life can undoubtedly revolutionize how citizens carry out administrative procedures and many other daily tasks, making them faster and more efficient.
Do we have the technology capable of guaranteeing that the person casting the vote is truly who they claim to be, respecting the secrecy of the vote, and preventing the manipulation of results?
The answer is that, for this to happen, we have the essential need to have qualified providers of trusted electronic services to manage digital identities and processes.
If we want to request a postal vote online today, without having to go to a post office, we need an electronic ID card or a valid digital certificate. If mass digital voting is implemented for all eligible Spanish citizens, managing qualified digital identities will be essential, and therefore, so will the participation of qualified providers of trusted electronic services that offer maximum security. For electronic voting to become a reality, we need reliable and secure digital environments.
“The technology is ready, but political consensus is needed. The only European country where it is fully feasible is Estonia.”
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Trusted Electronic Services
Electronic trust services , such as Vintegris, are a set of highly regulated services controlled by EU governments that primarily deal with the identity of individuals and businesses. Their main objective is to ensure that digital interactions between them meet all the necessary technical and security requirements to certify that digital identities and information shared electronically are real, confidential, and trustworthy.
In Europe, work continues to build a secure and connected digital space. The eIDAS2 regulation envisions the creation of our digital identity of the future, which involves a digital wallet where each person can store their certificates and personal digital history. This includes everything from educational qualifications to electronic signatures, timestamps, and electronic seals that guarantee the origin and validity of a document or acquired asset.
Could this European regulatory framework also represent a further step towards bringing digital voting closer to citizens? We know that the time for online voting will come. Knowing when that will happen depends on the collective will, both in terms of regulations and society. With the results of the June 23rd elections just in, all scenarios remain open, including the possibility of new elections in the next six months. Whenever they happen, will we finally be able to say that secure online voting in Spain is a reality?