A VIRTUAL INEVITABILITY?: RECONCEPTUALISING THE INTERNET VOTING DEBATE WITH EVIDENCE FROM CANADA AND ABROAD

Abstract

The Internet is changing democracy in many important ways. Though governments have proven willing to leverage technology for service delivery in many instances, perhaps the most important democratic act – the casting of ballots during an election – has remained largely unchanged since the mid 19th-century. Trivial to most regular voters, the requirement to cast a paper ballot at a brick-and-mortar polling location may not only disenfranchise those who face barriers of physical access, but also, is demonstrated to introduce a variety of perceived costs to irregular, inexperienced, first- time-eligible, and youth electors, which may be limiting overall participation. This paper tests claims of Internet voting proponents, including those of increased turnout, and greater voting-habit formation. It weighs these against the noted risks, particularly to security and trust. A synthesis of a variety of literatures demonstrates that there are reasonable grounds for optimism with regards to the implementation of Internet voting.