Friday, July 08, 2016
Estonian Internet voting and turnout myths
There seems to be an idea that if we introduced Internet voting, turnout would jump, trending towards 100%.
Endlessly cited for the advantages of Internet voting is Estonia.
It's very Canadian to always assume some other country's system must be better.
But the reality is that after offering Internet voting for national elections starting in 2007, Estonia had lower turnout in 2015 than Canada.
I'll say that again for emphasis
After almost a decade of offering Internet voting, Estonia had a lower turnout in its 2015 Parliamentary election than Canada did.
Note: In order to ensure the numbers are roughly comparable, I am comparing only Parliamentary elections.
Data are from
July 6, 2016 evidence about online voting (particularly turnout)
Endlessly cited for the advantages of Internet voting is Estonia.
It's very Canadian to always assume some other country's system must be better.
But the reality is that after offering Internet voting for national elections starting in 2007, Estonia had lower turnout in 2015 than Canada.
I'll say that again for emphasis
After almost a decade of offering Internet voting, Estonia had a lower turnout in its 2015 Parliamentary election than Canada did.
Country |
2011 Turnout | 2015 Turnout |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | 61.1% | 68.3% |
| Estonia | 63.5% | 64.2% |
Data are from
- Statistics about Internet Voting in Estonia
- Elections Canada - Voter turnout for the 2015, 2011, 2008 and 2006 general elections
- there were staggering gaps in procedural and operational security
- the architecture of the system leaves it open to cyberattacks from foreign powers, such as Russia
July 6, 2016 evidence about online voting (particularly turnout)
Labels: canada, Estonia, internet voting, online voting, voter turnout
[permanent link] posted by rakerman : 2:30 pm
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