New Ways To Vote

New methods of voting have received a broadly positive response from the public, according to new research from the MORI Social Research Institute. The survey, on behalf of The Electoral Commission, exams the public's response to the new methods of voting used in the 2003 local elections.

Overall, attitudes to the pilots conducted on May 1st 2003 are broadly positive, and this falls in line with the impact postal voting in particular had on turnout. Just over half (56%) thought the new arrangements improved the whole process of voting, while only six per cent said they made them worse. These figures were similar across both postal and e-voting pilots. A third (32%) said that they were, or would have been, encouraged to vote by the new arrangements.

The key driver of this success, according to the qualitative research, appears to be the convenience factor, particularly for busy people who want to vote, or for those who find it difficult to get to a polling station. Polling voting, and some types of e-voting, are on the whole seen as quick and easy to use. However, postal voting does receive lower ratings for safety from fraud and abuse, particularly compared with the public's perception of the "tried and tested" traditional form of voting in polling stations. Similarly, convenience is seen as the USP of e-voting, particularly voting over the internet, though generalised suspicion about new technology does lead to concerns about the possibility of malfunction and fraud.

However, it also appears that the success of postal voting in increasing turnout will have a natural limit -- the convenience factor only works among those who, during the campaign, already intend to vote, but perhaps would not make it to the polling station on the day. In other words, there is a substantial segment of the population who make a decision not to vote on the grounds of political disconnection. This can be seen in the six in ten of non-voters who say the new arrangements made no difference on their decision to vote. For this group, the mechanics of the voting process is not a critical factor, and even though they may recognise its advantages in terms of simplicity and convenience, this alone will not encourage them to vote (this works the other way round too -- very few non-voters say they did not vote because they had concerns about the security of the new methods).

There are two important issues to consider for the future of new methods of voting. Firstly, while awareness may be high, depth of knowledge is shallow (this applies equally to voting in polling stations). Thus, the next few years will be crucial in forming people's opinions of the new methods. Will they be seen as reliable, easy to use and successful in improving turnout? Or will concerns about the potential for fraud be reinforced? Secondly, there is the question of how to deal with people's desire for choice. Throughout this research, there has been very little evidence of people wanting to ban new methods of voting; even when individuals would not personally choose a certain channel, they feel it should be available for others to take advantage of. This is seen as a natural consequence of the demands and expectations of the modern world, in that people should be able to choose the way of voting that is most convenient for them, and one that they are comfortable using.

• Public opinion and the 2003 electoral pilot schemes -- pdf, 232KB

Technical details

MORI interviewed c.200 voters and non-voters in each of 29 pilot local authorities (6,185 interviews in total) by telephone between 2-12 May 2003. Data are weighted by sex, age, work status, size of authority and actual turnout on May 1st. In addition, ten focus groups were carried out in 5 pilot areas between 13-22 May. The Government sanctioned 59 electoral pilots to be run by local authorities in the May 2003 local elections in England. These pilots trialled all-postal voting and e-voting elections. The Electoral Commission has a statutory responsibility to evaluate these pilots, and its strategic evaluation report, The shape of elections to come, makes use of the findings from MORI's research into public attitudes. The Commission's evaluation reports are available at www.electoralcomission.org.uk/about-us/may2003pilots.cfm