I Will Support eMail Voting

In fact I will support anything that will overcome the apathy, laziness, etc. of those that don't vote but a recent study blamed poverty, ethnicity and culture as reasons many people don't vote and I wonder if this would change with eVoting. It almost seems we would have to have some form of computer buses that would be stationed around the cities to allow those with no computer to vote. One of the promoters of online voting says; ""Online voting is a great alternative for many elections but it only succeeds if voters are informed and educated about their choices," Froman said." Performance of elected officials at the municipal level makes it obvious that this criteria is not met with our present system.

Majority support online voting, survey finds

CTV.ca News Staff

A new survey suggests a large majority of residents living in the Greater Toronto Area would rather vote online if the method were offered in municipal elections.

The AskingCanadians poll released Monday found 69 per cent of residents planning to vote in the Nov. 13 election would prefer the high-tech way of casting ballots as opposed to the traditional method of lining up at polling stations.

Of those not planning to vote, 82 per cent said the Internet option would increase their likelihood of voting.

Less than 40 per cent of Torontonians cast a ballot in the 2003 election.

"Online voting is a clear solution to problems of voter apathy and low turnout," said Adam Froman, president of Delvinia Interactive, which sponsored the survey.

"E-democracy is a winning alternative to build participation in the electoral process -- especially in youth."

The only municipality in the GTA that is offering online voting this fall is Markham.

The town joined with Delvinia Interactive to offer the e-ballot system in advanced polls during the last election.

Advanced polling increased 300 per cent from 2000, with 17 per cent of voting coming from e-ballots.

"I'd say that we're going to see at least a 10 percent increase in voter turnout over the next election, hopefully even more," Froman said.

Everybody who voted online last time around, along with 70 per cent of in-person voters, said they would use the e-balloting system in the next election, the survey said.

Markham's overall turnout, however, was still 27 per cent, a decrease of 2.5 per cent from the previous election.

Some voters may not initially warm up to the electronic system because of Internet security concerns, Froman acknowledged.

Youth most likely to cast e-ballots

Those least likely to vote at traditional polling stations are people aged 18 to 34, the poll found.

But this demographic is the most likely to adopt online voting, with 73 per cent supporting the initiative.

For those who don't intend to vote, 82 per cent said the Internet option would increase their likelihood of casting a ballot.

"Online voting is a great alternative for many elections but it only succeeds if voters are informed and educated about their choices," Froman said.

"The Internet and other digital channels are vital communications tools to engage voters to participate in the emerging online voting process."

The online survey, which polled 1,072 people last week, carries +/- 3 percentage point margin of error, 9.5 times out of 10.

Markham voters have until Nov. 1 to register to vote online and cast their ballots in advance polls between Nov. 4 and 9. Click here to register.

With a report from CTV's Desmond Brown