Will New Technology Boost Turnout? Evaluating Experiments in E-Voting v. All-Postal Voting Facilities in UK Local Elections

Proponents argue that using technology to modernize the process of casting a ballot, especially the implementation of remote electronic voting (e-voting), could boost electoral participation. E-voting is thought to be a particularly important reform designed to encourage turnout among younger people. Evidence to evaluate this claim is available from experiments conducted by the UK Electoral Commission using pilot schemes available to over six million citizens in 59 different English local government districts during the 1st May 2003 local government elections. These contests are characteristically low-salience events where only a third of the electorate usually cast a ballot. The pilot schemes provide an exceptionally good test of the effects of modernizing electoral administration and voting facilities, as the public in each district cast legal votes in an official contest. The pilots experimented with alternative ways of facilitating remote electronic voting, including use of the Internet from home and public access sites, interactive digital television, SMS text messaging, and touch-tone telephones. Pilots also used all-postal ballots, getting electronic information to voters, and extended voting periods. For comparison, in the remaining areas the public cast a traditional in-person vote by marking crosses on standard paper ballots in local polling stations. The evidence from the aggregate results, and from the post-election survey, confirms that the use of all-postal voting facilities had a significant impact in strengthening turnout by about 15% on average, as well as improving public satisfaction with the electoral process. Yet claims that remote electronic voting can automatically resuscitate electoral participation should be regarded with considerable skepticism: pilots using remote e-voting combined with traditional polling stations, but without all-postal ballots, proved ineffective in improving overall turnout. The main reason is that all-postal ballots had their most significant impact upon improving voting participation among the older generation, who were already most motivated to vote. In this regard, the simple Victorian postage stamp beats the high-tech microchip hands down.