Abstract
This paper refers to the discussion on the impact of new technologies on political participation with a special emphasis put on ICT’s influence on the electoral process. The main research problem approached is associated with the ways of political participation in Europe in a comparative perspective but paying particular attention to the Polish case. The part of the article dedicated to discussing the electoral and non-electoral forms of civic involvement in Europe is based on data sets analysis from European Social Survey (ESS 2018) and it aims to verify the general hypothesis that the impact of Internet usage on political participation differs across Europe. For the study of the Polish case, we used data collected in a survey conducted by the authors in 2018. It focuses on answering the question of whether (and if yes—in what way) the use of ICTs is affecting the willingness to use ICT-based tools in electoral processes in Poland and what is the profile of the potential e-voter in this country. The research results confirm that there are significant cross-country differences in both types of political participation which derive from demographic factors (education and age mainly) but Internet usage is a better predictor for non-electoral participation than for voting. Regarding Poland, the general public declares a high level of support for e-voting (mean general e-voting support index was 3.61 out of 5) and it scores the highest results among people aged between 25 and 44, with secondary or higher education, living in urban areas.
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Notes
- 1.
Such a phenomenon is usually observed at the very beginning of the implementation or adaptation process (Belgium, Switzerland: Geneva and Zurich).
- 2.
Estonia is indisputably the world leader with its first e-enabled elections at local level (1.9% of i-voters in 2005) and the eleventh e-enabled elections to the European Parliament (46.7% of i-voters among participating voters in last voting).
- 3.
ESS Round 9: European Social Survey Round 9 Data (2018). Data file edition 1.2. NSD—Norwegian Centre for Research Data, Norway—Data Archive and distributor of ESS data for ESS ERIC. doi: https://doi.org/10.21338/NSD-ESS9-2018.
- 4.
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
- 5.
(1) I use electronic administration services. (2) I would like to see more matters to be dealt with over the Internet in Poland. (3) The introduction of voting via the Internet seems to be a question of time only. (4) In Poland, we should have voting via the Internet as an additional form of election participation. (5) I would use the possibility of voting via the Internet during election, provided there is such an option. (6) If voting via the Internet is introduced, it should be possible before the election day (e.g., week preceding election Sunday) and it should be available for several days. (7) I do not want any additional voting methods to be introduced. (8) Traditional voting is better. (9) Voting via the Internet diminishes the significance of voting. (10) Voting via the Internet facilitates participation in elections. (11) Voting via the Internet reduces the probability of an error. (12) E-voting is more convenient. (13) Voting via the Internet boosts the turnout. (14) E-voting poses a threat to the universal nature of voting. (15) Voting via the Internet creates the possibility of election fraud. (16) No confidentiality can be guaranteed with Internet voting. (17) Compared to voting in a polling station, e-voting is less safe.
- 6.
Digital divide may occur in two ways: (1) between those who have home computers with Internet connections and those who do not and (2) between those who have faster access and those who have slower connections and hence lower quality access. People with higher incomes are more likely to be able to afford access. Furthermore, access is often less expensive and of higher quality in urban areas (Goodman et al., 2010, p. 16).
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The paper has been prepared under the project: E-voting as an alternative voting procedure in state elections. Experience of selected countries and the perspectives of e-voting implementation in Poland: UMO-2014/15/B/HS5/01358 (NCN, OPUS programme).
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Kapsa, I., Luengo, Ó.G., Musiał-Karg, M. (2021). E-Voting and Transformation of Participation in Europe: Exploring the Profile of E-Voters in Poland. In: Musiał-Karg, M., Luengo, Ó.G. (eds) Digitalization of Democratic Processes in Europe. Studies in Digital Politics and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71815-2_2
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