Assessing Voters' Attitudes Towards Electronic Voting in Latin America: Evidence from Colombia's 2007 E-Voting Pilot
Working Paper No.: 92Date Published: 2009-10-01
Author(s):
R. Michael Alvarez, California Institute of Technology
Gabriel Katz, California Institute of Technology
Ricardo Llamosa, Universidad Industrial de Santander
Hugo E. Martinez, Universidad Industrial de Santander
Abstract:
Electronic voting could increase citizens’ electoral participation
and trust in countries characterized by fragile democratic institutions
and public discredit of the political system such as those in Latin
America. This paper examines attitudes towards e-voting among participants
in a large scale pilot project conducted in Colombia in 2007,
focusing on the perceived reliability and usability of different automated
voting technologies. Using a multivariate probit model, we determine the
effect of socio-demographic, geographic and technical factors on users’
evaluations of electronic voting vis a vis the traditional paper ballot system.
Our results show that users find e-voting not only easier than the
current voting system, but also substantially more reliable. While voters’
opinions on usability are driven by technical issues, their trust in
the new technologies is strongly affected by individual characteristics.
We conclude that e-voting entails a promising opportunity to empower
voters and increase confidence in elections in Colombia.