Electronic Voting Technologies in Elections: Russian and Foreign Experience

Abstract

The study explores the Russian and international experience of using such forms of electronic voting in elections as with the help of a special device (complex) for electronic voting at a polling station (in a voting room, or another specially defined place), and remote electronic voting through a personal computer or a mobile device. The article analyzes the circumstances and conditions that contribute to the development and consolidation of electronic voting in the country's legislation, or, conversely, the conditions that lead to suspension or even rejecting electronic technologies from the electoral process at the state level. Up-to-date information on the use of electronic technologies in the elections has been examined. The stages, problems, and difficulties of introducing electronic voting technologies in elections, as well as directions for further improvement of electronic voting in countries that have chosen the path of long-term development of digitalization of the electoral process are highlighted. In the early 2000s, many countries of the world gained experience in the practical use of electronic technologies in elections. However, the scientific and technological achievements so far did not provide the necessary degree of voters' confidence in the security of the electronic voting system or any reliable result. The prejudice towards electronic voting technologies, as well as high-cost modern electronic systems for implementation, persist in many countries to this day. This is an objective obstacle to the widespread use of electronic technologies in the electoral process. At the same time, the experience of remote electronic voting in Russia and Estonia, the fragmentary inclusion of electronic voting in electoral procedures in a number of other countries, and the widespread use of electronic voting complexes show that electronic technologies in elections are already a reality.

Keywords

• electoral process
• digital technologies
• electronic voting complex
• remote electronic voting
• electronic voter list