E-voting: Trojan horse or Deus ex machina in contemporary democracies?

Abstract

The notion of electronic voting means the use of technological and informational devices in the electoral process, either in a controlled (DRE machines) or in an uncontrolled environment (internet voting). As such, it is an indispensable component of the ever-present concept of digital or electronic democracy. The paper, through a clear differentiation of e-government and e-democracy, points out the difference between the digitization of political elections and the digitization of other spheres of life, as well as non-political elections (elections within companies, universities, etc.). The basis of the difference is the importance these elections have for the establishment and legitimization of government and the democratic character of the political system as whole. Furthermore, the paper analyses case law of ordinary and constitutional courts faced with issues of IT security and equality of electronic voting. Finally, the author critically examines the hypothesis that electronic voting necessarily leads to a higher turnout, thereby solving the problem of legitimation deficit in contemporary democracies. It is concluded that forms of electronic voting, although undoubtedly useful, treat the consequences but not the core issues of modern democratic orders.

Keywords

• e-democracy
• i-voting
• e-voting
• elections
• digital constitutionalism