Cryptographic identity verification at the polling station is the safest and confirms the authenticity of the mDowod, assured the Minister of Digital Affairs Krzysztof Gawkowski on Thursday. This involves the voter scanning the QR code, which will be presented to him at the district election commission.
Gawkowski reminded at a press conference in Warsaw on Thursday that the E-elections service has been available on mObywatel since 2023. It allows users to check information about the date and type of upcoming elections, and you can also check the voting location.
The Minister of Digital Affairs emphasized that the ministry is working to ensure that the voting procedure with m-ID is a completely safe element of identity confirmation. “Together with the National Electoral Office, we have developed a solution that will provide a convenient and safe confirmation of whether the voter's identity is authentic,” he added.
The director of the Central Informatics Centre, Radosław Maćkiewicz, explained that this is a cryptographic solution which – as he said – ” undeniably confirms the authenticity of the mDowod “.
It involves the voter scanning a QR code, which will be presented to them at the district election commission. Maćkiewicz informed that members of the election commissions will be trained in the field of identity verification with mObywatelem.
He added that the solution will be launched on the day of the presidential elections. To confirm identity with mDowodem, it will be necessary to update the application to the latest version.
“Identity verification at the polling station, carried out using a cryptographic method, is the safest,” Gawkowski assured.
The head of the Ministry of Digital Affairs also announced an information campaign for the mObywatel application, which is to last from April 28 to May 30, excluding the election silence. The aim of the campaign will be to inform about the most important functions of the application, which may be useful during the elections.
Gawkowski also noted the popularity of the application. “mObywatel is the most popular Polish application, with over 9 million users,” Gawkowski said.
He added that the application has recorded a 60% increase in users since December 2023. As he said, over 5 million users have blocked their PESEL in the application. “These are huge and satisfying results for us, which confirm that Poles want to use mObywatel,” he added.
“We want all of Poland to be free from paper documents in 2035,” said the Minister of Digital Affairs. According to the “Poland's Digital Strategy”, all key e-services will be included in the mObywatel application by that time. The efficient implementation of subsequent functions and documents is to be facilitated by the legislative changes currently being processed.
mObywatel is a fully-fledged electronic identity document that is available in an application on the phone. It can be used in offices, banks, courts, clinics or at a notary's office.
The presidential elections will be held on May 18 this year. A possible second round will be held on June 1. (PAP)
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