Title: Will remote electronic voting systems increase participation?

Authors: Andrea L. Houston, Yurong Yao, Chitu Okoli, Edward Watson

Addresses: Information Systems and Decision Sciences, Louisiana State University, 3304G CEBA Building, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA. ' Information Systems and Operation Managements, Suffolk University, 8 Ashburton Place, Boston, MA 02108, USA. ' John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, GM 209-23 Montreal, QC H3G 1M8, Canada. ' Information Systems and Decision Science, Louisiana State University, 3194 CEBA Building, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA

Abstract: Remote electronic voting systems (REVSs) have become a viable mechanism for official political elections. It can enable remote voting, facilitate monitoring, voting and tallying, and report immediate results. However, it is uncertain whether the use of REVS could increase citizens| participation in elections. This study examines this question in the USA. By analysing the data from multiple sources, we found that web-based REVS use can significantly increase the participation of non-voting citizens, and that young adults have a strong preference to using REVS. The implications and the recommendations about the use of REVS are also discussed.

Keywords: remote electronic voting systems; voting participation; web-based REVS; telephone-based REVS; age differences; voting mechanisms; remote voting; e-voting; elections; young adults; e-government; electronic government; e-lections.

DOI: 10.1504/EG.2005.007783

Electronic Government, an International Journal, 2005 Vol.2 No.3, pp.353 - 368

Published online: 16 Sep 2005 *

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