Online Voting Compared to Paper Voting
Online voting has many advantages over paper voting. Let’s explore these benefits and in which cases paper voting might still be preferable.
Efficiency and Costs of Online Voting vs. Paper Voting
Cost Reduction
Organizing a paper vote by mail can be expensive. It requires printing ballots, addressing envelopes, covering mailing costs, and hiring people for vote counting. You also need a location for these operations and to store the voting materials.
Costs increase if you hire a bailiff to receive the ballots and ensure transparency.
Online voting significantly reduces these costs.
Time-Saving and Simplification of the Process
Setting up an online vote can be quick and easy. You only need to create an account on an online voting platform, input the necessary information, define the voting options, and launch the vote. Additionally, online voting allows for instant vote counting.
In contrast, paper voting involves many tasks that grow with the number of voters. This time-consuming aspect is especially true for mail-in votes, which require managing mailings, returns, errors, and more.
Flexibility in the Voting Process
Reminding voters who haven’t cast their vote is easier with online voting. The platform knows who has already voted and can automatically send reminders to those who haven’t.
Likewise, it’s easier to correct an email address error than a postal address mistake. Finally, online voting allows for voting until the last minute, which is impossible with mail-in voting.
Specific Features of Online Voting
Complementing Online Meetings
When a meeting is held online, it makes sense for the vote to be conducted online as well.
Voters can benefit from online debates to form their opinions before voting. They can also vote until the last minute and change their decisions if they wish.
Note that voting online does not compromise the anonymity of the vote. Online voting solutions ensure the privacy of voters.
Higher Participation Rates and More Frequent Voting
Participation rates are higher with online voting. Voters can cast their vote from home, work, or on their phone. This reduces barriers to participation since they don’t need to mail anything or travel.
Furthermore, online voting allows for more frequent votes. For example, instead of limiting voting to a general assembly, electronic voting makes it easy to organize independent consultations.
Election Security
Online voting reduces the risks of fraud and vote manipulation. It allows voters to verify that their vote has been counted and ensures voter anonymity.
With paper voting, the ballot box needs to be supervised. Mail-in voting, in particular, should be avoided unless overseen by a bailiff.
Broader Expression
Online voting enables the expression of preferences and the tallying of ranked votes.
Preference voting, where voters rank candidates in order of preference, is much more democratic than multiple-round votes when the choice is not limited to two options.
Unfortunately, this type of voting is not well known because it takes too long to conduct without the help of technology.
Potential Limitations of Online Voting
Attachment to Paper Voting
Some people may prefer paper voting out of habit and may no longer recognize the inherent problems with this method, such as counting errors or ballot box security issues.
There may also be cases where online voting is not suitable. For instance, finding online voting solutions that support weighted voting with mixed distribution of voting weights can be challenging. If you need a very specific type of vote, paper voting might still be necessary.
Educational Value of Paper Voting
In some cases, demonstrating how an election works can help people better understand the process, how anonymity is maintained, and how the security of the ballot box is ensured.
In this context, paper voting can be more educational, making it a better choice, particularly in schools. However, when these mechanisms are well understood, electronic voting becomes more relevant.
Transparency
Not all online tools are created equal. It is important to choose an online voting tool that guarantees transparency, particularly by ensuring that votes are properly counted. Otherwise, there is a risk of losing confidence in electronic voting.
In conclusion, except in rare and specific circumstances, online voting facilitates democratic life for associations, communities, and any group of individuals needing to make collective decisions.