Party Positions on Electronic Voting

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About this Research Topic

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Background

Electronic voting, both in the polling station (on-site e-voting) and remote (Internet voting), is on the rise. A large number of countries around the world are currently using a form of e-voting, testing or considering such alternative voting technologies. More largely, ICT-related tools are increasingly being integrated in the electoral process, from the voter registration to the diffusion of results. While there is a vast literature on e-voting in political science and in particular on its consequence for voting behavior and political attitudes, we tend to know much less about political elites’ and more specifically party positions on e-voting. Yet, political parties are key actors in the implementation of e-voting processes. For instance, they initiate electoral reforms concerning alternative voting modalities in the parliament, they discuss the guiding principles and specificities of the e-voting tools, they evaluate mock elections and e-voting pilots, and they ultimately decide on the sustainability of e-voting in a given city, region or country.

The goal of this Research Topic is to investigate the dynamics of politicization of electronic voting, which is shaped by the strategic actions of political elites (local, regional, national, European) and political parties in particular. The Research Topic aims at understanding party positions on electronic voting and to grasp their impact on the public decision to test, implement, perpetuate or abandon e-voting. We aim at identifying the explanatory factors that lead parties to push forward the introduction of e-voting in various arenas (electoral debates, parliaments, cabinets, etc.), and at testing the impact of factors such as party ideology, electoral success, internal party structures (e.g. digital or platform parties) or government participation on their policy positions. Similarly, this Research Topic aims at analyzing the arguments developed by political parties in the internal and/or public debates around e-voting and at measuring the weight of such arguments and positions in the decision-making process regarding the implementation of e-voting. This Research Topic stands at the crossroads of the established tradition of analysis of party policy positions, of the scholarly works on e-voting and alternative voting modalities, as well as of the emerging literature on digital parties.

The link between political parties and electronic voting is at the center of this Research Topic, and it welcomes contributions on the study of party positions concerning a large series of e-voting modalities: ballot marking device (BMD), direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting (including voter-verifiable paper audit trail), kiosk voting, Internet voting and mobile voting apps, electronic transmission of ballots (via web-based portal or via e-mail), or many other hybrid voting modalities. In-depth case studies, including a specific party (family) or a specific city, region or country, will be accepted alongside comparative works. Regarding methods, the Research Topic is open to manuscripts presenting various methods of data collection regarding party positions (such as party manifestos and electoral campaign communication platforms, parliamentary discourses and activities, party elite interviews and surveys, etc.), as well as to contributions aiming at creating joint data collection efforts. The Research Topic welcomes Original Research articles and Brief Research Report articles, but is also open to other types of manuscripts, such as Methods articles and Data Report articles.

Keywords: Political parties, Party positions, E-voting, Internet voting

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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