What is E-voting?

E-voting is the potential next step in the modernisation of the act of voting. It covers everything from voting by text, the Internet and even via a digital television.

The idea is that by making it that much easier to vote, reducing both the time and shoe-leather costs involved compared to going to a polling station, or even voting by post, E-voting would significantly increase participation.

However, E-voting demands very high levels of security, and it is a debatable point whether these levels have yet been reached.

There is another aspect to E-voting – voting at a polling station using a touch-screen voting machine or an electronic scanner. The use (and abuse) of such machines is common throughout America. Here, however, we will concentrate on the more remote forms of E-voting.

Arguments used in support of E-Voting

• It encourages electoral participation, especially among the young, who are by far the group least likely to vote.
• Voting online can include better links between the vote and the information on which a vote should be based, thus leading to more informed decisions.
• By logging all votes electronically, the counting process is carried out more-or-less instantly.

Arguments used against E-Voting

• The potential for fraud is very high. A resourceful hacker, and not the voters, could decide who wins an election. The simple act of conducting an election on the Internet may be seen as a challenge to some hackers.
• E-voting pilots have shown no increase in turnout.
• It is much harder to be sure that the person casting the vote is the same person that the vote is registered to.
• There is no way to know for sure that the vote was cast in secret and without undue pressure.

Real-world evidence of E-Voting

E-voting has been used rarely in the real world. It was piloted in the May 2003 local elections in 18 local councils in England, where voters were able to vote by text message, Internet, electronic kiosk and digital TV. The trials were roundly criticised and the government has since said that no further trials are being planned.

ERS policy on E-voting

Given the lack of evidence that e-voting increases turnout, and the continuing concerns over the security of the processes, the Society doesn't believe that we're ready for E-voting yet.

Elections in the 21st Century