E-Voting as the Magic Ballot? The impact of the internet on electoral participation and civic engagement

Synopsis: In many societies the use of the Internet for multiple functions in commerce and government has generated debate about whether the introduction of e-voting could reduce the costs of casting a ballot and therefore promote electoral participation. The argument developed in this study makes three claims: first, the evidence from the distribution of Internet access worldwide and within Western Europe suggests that, at least in the short-term, the impact of introducing e-voting into elections could probably deepen and worsen the existing socioeconomic 'voting gap'. Second, even if we assume that use of the Internet gradually 'normalizes' across the population in many affluent countries, there are still good reasons to be skeptical about any potential revolutionary benefits from e-voting on electoral participation. E-voting at home or work can be understood as analogous to the use of voting facilities exemplified by postal ballots, and the evidence suggests that the use of such facilities has had little impact on turnout. Instead, it is argued, the most important role of information technology in democracy lies, in its potential capacity to strengthen the public sphere. As such the debate about e-voting may well prove largely irrelevant to the primary impact of the Internet on democracy.