E-voting and electoral participation

The ever-increasing number of expatriates has fed the political debate on the voting rights of Swiss abroad over the last two decades. More than the right to vote itself, the effective exercise of voting rights has become a much-discussed issue. Swiss expatriates are able to vote at the federal level, which means they are invited to vote in popular votes and referendums up to four times a year and in elections every four years. They vote mainly by post and are faced with delays inherent to this method of voting and are sometimes disenfranchised as a result. Internet voting considerably accelerates the return of the ballot. Its introduction has been one of the main demands of Swiss living abroad. In parallel, the federal and cantonal authorities have planned to gradually and pragmatically adapt direct democracy instruments and voting methods to the digital environment in a prudent and long-term process. Internet voting was launched at the beginning of the 21st century and is one of the key projects of the Confederation's e-government strategy. Three Internet voting systems have been developed so far by the cantons of Zurich, Neuchâtel, and Geneva. Internet voting was first offered to Swiss expats in June 2008. For the latest federal elections on February 13, 2011, some 55,000 Swiss abroad had the possibility to vote via Internet; on the federal elections on October 23, 2011, some 22,000 Swiss abroad registered in four cantons took part in the very first Internet voting trial during a federal election. Half of Swiss cantons have now introduced Internet voting, mainly for citizens abroad. While it is too early to draw conclusions on whether Internet voting fosters participation of expatriates in Swiss political life, recent experience clearly shows that Internet voting is well accepted. The success of the Swiss model of the introduction of evoting can be explained with the following elements: joint strategic planning (the roadmap), a good inter-cantonal cooperation with hosting solutions, and a gradual expansion, which puts securityat the center of efforts. At the federal level it's a popular vote on Federal Assembly legislation, total or partial revision of the federal Constitution, international treaties, or agreements on accession to international organizations. 2 Generic term for various procedures by which a predetermined minimum number of Swiss citizens who are eligible to votem ay make a request in terms of a general proposal, an amendment be made to the Constitution, or by which a canton or any member of the Federal Assembly, parliamentary group, or committee proposes a Federal Assembly bill or the fundamental elements of such a bill. 3 Up to four times a year a federal vote is organised on referendums or initiatives that have obtained the required number of signatures. Federal elections are held every four years.

Analysis of the profile and motives of internet voting users in Geneva (Switzerland) shows that the common explanations of political participation ignore a subjective – or affective – dimension of political participation. This emotional dimension is the driver of internet vote use. Coincidentally, iVoting is mostly used by citizens who describe themselves as irregular voters or abstainers. This points to invisible barriers to political participation, as these citizens do not lack resources or knowledge, but the desire to participate by the common paper-based channels. For them, political participation is a self-centered process. Ultimately, this reflects a deep shift in the political life, from class-based choices to individual choices in the realm of public affairs. The present-day common good is defined by an aggregation of individual wills.

This paper reviews the piecemeal introduction of internet voting in a highly federalised political setting, Switzerland. We trace the processes leading to the implementation of internet voting and the network of actors involved in its governance. In the empirical analysis we report usage patterns and take stock of what we know about the individual and socio-demographic profiles of internet voters.

Proceedings of the 2014 International Conference on eDemocracy & eGovernment (ICEDEG), 2014

Even in countries where compulsory voting is applied , one can observe large variations in turnout across electoral districts. This paper analyses turnout rates and the number of invalid votes in local elections in Belgium and tests whether differences across municipalities can be explained by e-voting. Taking into account various elements related to the electoral system, political competition and socio-demographic factors, multivariate models demonstrate that turnout decreases in municipalities where e-voting is used. This is true for all election years (1994-2012) and the paper also finds out that the negative effect of e-voting on turnout increases over time.

Finding the answer to the question of the role of electronic voting in a modern country constitutes an important part of researches into electronic democracy. The recent dynamic development of information and communication technologies (ICT) and mass media have been leading to noticeable changes in functioning of contemporary countries and societies. ICT is beginning to play a greater and greater role and filter down to almost every field of contemporary human life -including politics. Electronic voting represents one of the more and more popular forms of so called e-democracy, and is an interesting research subject in the context of mechanisms for implementing this form of participation in elections, its legitimization, specific technological solutions for e-voting and their effectiveness as well as unintended consequences. The main subject of this text is the use of electronic voting (e-voting) as one of the forms of electronic democracy. The article attempts to answer the following research questions: First, what is the impact of ICT on the political processes -particularly on the voting procedures? Secondly, what is the essence of electronic voting and what are its main features? Finally, what are the e-voting experiences in the European countries?

… , Illusion, and Ideology'at the Center …, 2008

Javnost - The Public, 2004

In many places e-voting technologies are under development, and an intensive theoretical and normative debate is taking place about the pros and cons. We investigate the opinions of the users of this type of technologies, as this is crucial for the shaping and acceptance of the technology. We did not use a survey, but held 14 intensive discussion sessions in different countries with voters and organizers of ballots, using the focus groups methodology. We found consensus that evoting will not influence turnout. The motivation to start with e-voting therefore seems mainly financial, aiming at reducing costs. This suggests that in the future e-voting will replace traditional ways of voting, and therefore the digital divide can be expected to influence the participation in and the outcome of ballots. Finally, although most respondents expect that evoting may improve (especially local) democracy through a combination of voting technologies with technologies for supporting deliberation and information dissemination, it remains unclear how this should be done. More detailed studies into political participation and the subtle roles of ICT's herein are needed, as this can inform the design of adequate technologies for e-democracy.

Przegląd Politologiczny, 2021

The aim of the article is to present the opportunities and threats resulting from the implementation of voting via the Internet (i-voting) and to discuss the conditions for effective implementation of this alternative voting procedure on the example of Estonia and Switzerland. Estonia is the only country in the world where i-voting is widely used. In Switzerland, on the other hand, this voting method has been used most often, although its use has been suspended for several years due to legal, infrastructural and political problems. What are the conditions for successfully implementing Internet voting? The attempt to answer this research question was possible thanks to the use of the following research methods: comparative, formal-dogmatic, behavioral and modified historical method. The key conclusion is that the implementation of i-voting must be preceded by many years of political, legal, infrastructural and social activities, and that the created system must be as transparent as p...

EIIC 2014. The 3rd Electronic International Interdisciplinary Conference, Proceedings in Electronic International Interdisciplinary Conference, eds. M. Mokrys, S. Badura, A. Lieskovsky, EDIS – Publishing Institution of the University of Zilina, Slovakia, ss. 311-315, ISSN 978-80-554-0921-4., 2014

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) constitute a crucial element of globalisation and computerization processes. ICT are not exclusively present in the economy, entertainment, trade or banking, but they are also used in politics or social area. Public institutions employ ICT (particularly the Internet) for informational and educational purposes as well as for improving the efficiency of state institutions and bodies. With the availability of new (apart from traditional) forms of participation, such as e.g. electronic community consultations, electronic people's initiatives, participatory budgeting, e-voting, the citizens are offered the possibility to increase their activity on the political scene and their real influence on the decision-making process. It’s due to the fact that modern technologies can improve the interactions occurring between voters and political institutions, political parties, or politicians. One of such interaction is the process of voting, which in some countries is supported by ICT (e-voting). This article aims primarily at providing answers for questions: about the most important problems connected with introduction of this more and more popular way of civic participation in politics and with the use of e-voting in general elections, as well as about the most crucial and most frequent uncertainties that e-voting implies.

General population survey results report on internet voting in Switzerland, 2016

Does online voting mobilize citizens who otherwise would not participate? During the annual participatory budgeting vote in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil -- the world's largest -- Internet voters were asked whether they would have participated had there not been an online voting option (i-voting). The study documents an 8.2 percent increase in total turnout with the introduction of i-voting. In support of the mobilization hypothesis, unique survey data show that i-voting is mainly used by new participants rather than just for convenience by those who were already mobilized. The study also finds that age, gender, income, education, and social media usage are significant predictors of being online-only voters. Technology appears more likely to engage people who are younger, male, of higher income and educational attainment, and more frequent social media users.

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* Thanks for their help in the preparation of this chapter are due to the UK Electoral Commission and to Ben Marshall, Kate Sullivan and David Maher for generous help in providing the MORI data and for background briefing papers, as well as to the BBC Political Research Department, in particular Giles Edwards, who also provided invaluable research papers.

Initially targeted at residential voters only, Swiss internet voting trials have recently been extended to expatriates. In this paper, we review the Swiss experience with internet voting systems for expatriates. After a short overview of the Swiss internet voting roll-out focusing on the recent trials involving expatriates, we present newly collected data on the usage of the electronic voting channel. We find that internet voting is rather popular among expatriates. Already, every second Swiss abroad eligible to e-vote makes use of the electronic channel, with increasing tendency. Moreover, we inquire about the socio-demographic characteristics of the expatriate online voter. Most of the known socio-demographic correlates of electronic voting -in particular male gender, IT skills, political knowledge, and possibly young age -seem to replicate for the case of expatriates. The only factor specific to expatriates is that the probability of casting the vote electronically increases with geographical distance to the home country.

Belgian Exceptionalism. Belgian Politics between Realism and Surrealism, 2021

Electronic …, 2006

This paper draws attention to the need of a systematic approach to introducing electronic voting systems and presents empirical results from a pilot project by the Provincia Autonoma di Trento, Italy. Main attributes of this experience are the constant monitoring of the social impact and the development of a technological solution in accordance to the comments provided by the users themselves. We suggest that no sudden switch to a new form of ballot should be imposed on electors but rather that action research is to be fostered in order to uncover and preserve the traditional and symbolic connotations embedded in the act of voting.