Poll: Brits want online voting
The majority of British citizens want the opportunity to vote online. This was revealed by two polls from the market research institute YouGov, commissioned by WebRoots Democracy.
Majority for online election of the mayor of London
London’s next mayoral election is taking place in May 2016. Along with voting in person at the polling site and the postal vote, 59 per cent of Londoners would welcome the opportunity to vote online through the internet being provided as well.
The voters polled from the Labour Party show a strong affinity for voting online with 70 per cent, although voters from other parties (Liberal Democrats and UKIP) also agree with providing the opportunity to vote online. This number amounts to 49 per cent among voters for the Conservatives. Gender-specific differences are also marginal: 59 per cent of men and 60 per cent of women polled stated that they desire the opportunity to vote online through the internet.
Majority of Brits want to vote online for EU referendum
The referendum on Great Britain’s exit from the European Union for 2017 shows similar figures: 56 per cent of Brits polled stated that they would like the opportunity to cast their ballots online. Regarding the basic political alignment of those polled, however, there are less differences, as agreement among the voters from all parties was over 50 per cent.
Interestingly it is not only young Brits who would like to vote online: Indeed, support among 25- to 39-year-old Londoners (poll on the mayoral election) is the highest at 70 per cent, yet the majority of the 18- to 24-year-old and 40- to 59-year-old age groups support online voting as well (51 and 56 per cent, respectively). And one half (50 per cent) of Brits over the age of 60 support providing the opportunity to vote online.
Information about the polls:
The market research institute YouGov Plc. conducted the two aforementioned online polls at the order of WebRoots Democracy. 1047 adult Londoners were polled between 30.6.2015 to 2.7.2015 for the poll concerning the London mayoral election, and 1543 adult Britons were polled between 30.6.2015 and 1.7.2015 for the poll concerning the EU referendum. Additional information and detailed results are available in two articles on the weblog of WebRoots Democracy: WebRoots Democracy/YouGov poll shows majority want online voting implemented in the 2016 London Mayoral Election and WebRoots Democracy/YouGov poll shows majority want online voting implemented in the EU referendum.