YooMedia has been to develop secure interactive TV voting for local elections. Development commences immediately and pilots are to be conducted by local authorities over the next three years.
The work will start immediately and will initially involve discussions with major digital TV platforms and local authorities intending to pilot the service. YooMedia intends to provide e-voting capability across all UK digital cable and satellite TV networks.
The government has earmarked 拢30m over the next three years for the electoral pilot programme, opening up the possibility of an e-general election some time after 2006. The move follows the success of last May's online trials in which 2.5m people -- 11.5% of the electorate -- had the chance to vote in local elections by different methods. Many of these pilots resulted in significant increases in voter turnout.
Eddie Abrams, YooMedia's development director said: "YooMedia will develop a robust, secure application designed to make elections more accessible, more convenient and more attractive to people who would otherwise be less likely to vote."
He added: "Allowing people to vote from home using their televisions will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the electoral process. The inclusion of disability accessibility standards as part of the e-voting technology provides a good opportunity to improve social inclusion too."
YooMedia recently launched the "yoome2" interactive TV channel on Telewest digital cable TV. The new entertainment and community channel allows viewers to play exclusive games, including Tetris, chat with other users, win prizes and download mobile phone ringtones. This week sees the launch of Tetris on NTL.
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