The impact of remote internet voting on reducing the cost of electoral participation

Abstract

Remote Internet voting is often seen as a way to address declining turnout and low youth participation by making voting more convenient and reducing participation costs. Using micro-level data from six Estonian post-election studies conducted between 2009 and 2023, it tests whether perceived voting costs correlate with reduced participation, but increased likelihood of voting online. The findings show that higher voting costs have a negative association with participation overall but a strong positive association with the probability of choosing Internet voting. If reaching a polling station takes more than 30 min, voters are already more likely to vote online. This effect is strong enough to offset the barriers often associated with digital participation, such as low computer skills, lower education, and older age. The paper concludes that, while Internet voting is unlikely to substantially raise turnout, it seems to reduce voting costs enough to possibly overcome barriers that might otherwise limit participation.