INTERNET VOTING
“ Making online voting easier to use naturally encourages more people to make use of it .”
MTKANG / SHUTTERSTOCK . COM per cent . Furthermore , it potentially changed the results in 10 per cent of competitive mayoral elections if , for example , Internet voters held different candidate preferences since the margin of victory in those elections was three per cent or less . While Internet voting is not a panacea , it impacts voter participation and could affect election outcomes when there is a close race between candidates .
This should not alarm local elected representatives . There is a perception that offering Internet voting will encourage lots of young , more liberally oriented voters to participate and potentially unseat conservative-leaning incumbents . While we do not yet know about the partisan orientations of municipal voters in Ontario , since there are no local-level political parties and given that these questions haven ’ t been asked in surveys , research from the 2014 municipal elections shows that the younger voters , especially those aged 18 to 34 , prefer to vote by paper . This probably has to do with the fact that many of these electors may be voting for the first time and casting a paper ballot at a polling station is a symbolic rite of passage . It also shows , however , that younger electors are not as drawn to Internet voting , perhaps allaying this concern .
Considerations of the policy design In addition to examining whether Internet voting affects voter participation , we also looked at specific features of the policy design and how this impacts uptake . Specifically , we looked at whether eliminating paper ballots , only allowing Internet voting to be used in advance of Election Day and requiring registration to use Internet voting affected citizens ’ use of it .
Results show that when there is no registration requirement , 35 per cent more electors choose to cast a ballot by Internet . This isn ’ t too surprising . Not requiring voters to register to access an online ballot lowers the opportunity cost of using the voting method . Making online voting easier to use naturally encourages more people to make use of it .
Regarding advance voting , in 2014 , six municipalities offered Internet voting in advance of the election only , while 91 continued it as an option on Election Day . Our analysis , although not quite significant , suggests that about nine per cent less people voted online when it was offered in the advance-voting period . Municipal administrators could expect a higher uptake of the voting method when it is offered for the entire voting period .
What about when paper voting is eliminated ? Fifty-nine Ontario municipalities ran fully electronic elections in 2014 – 58 of those used a combination of Internet and telephone ballots , while the municipality of Leamington held the first Internet-only election . In these cases , 12 per cent more
20 Q4 2016 www . amcto . com people chose to vote online . Regarding turnout , eliminating paper voting is associated with a two per cent increase in voter turnout . This should not necessarily encourage other municipalities to take this route . Many of the communities that eliminated paper voting have seasonal populations where the cost of traveling to traditional poll locations may not have been an option for these property owners .
Future considerations The decision to adopt Internet voting depends on the unique contextual considerations of each municipality . Population and electorate size , population density , public attitudes , broadband infrastructure , Internet penetration , bureaucratic and political will , previous rates of voter participation as well as specific characteristics of the electorate such as age , income and education are factors that determine whether deployment of the voting method is appropriate in a given community . The intention of this article is not to promote or oppose online voting adoption , but to educate the municipal community about the effects on voter participation and how specific features of the policy design can influence elector uptake .
Our research shows that over time in Ontario municipalities , Internet voting is associated with a three per cent effect on voter participation . Not requiring registration and offering online voting for the full voting period , including Election Day , will have the highest uptake among electors . Though we are not advocating for their phasing out , even situations where paper ballots were eliminated are associated with a turnout increase of two per cent . Overall , Internet voting has a modest , positive effect on voter participation . It won ’ t substantially solve municipal turnout woes , but its impact could still change local elections . These are important facts to know as municipal administrators consider whether to offer Internet voting in 2018 .
The authors sincerely thank municipal clerks ’ offices across Ontario for providing municipal election data . Special thanks also to AMCTO , AMO , MPAC and local media for providing information about municipal elections , and Theo Nazary , Cody Boomer , Brian Budd , Ed Cabrera , Matthew Maingot and Matthew McManus for assistance in contacting municipal officials .
Nicole Goodman is director at the Centre for e-Democracy with a concurrent appointment with the Munk School for Global Affairs at the University of Toronto . Leah C . Stokes is an assistant professor of political science at the University of California , Santa Barbara . Both authors contributed equally to the research .