Brits bemoan lack of e-voting for General Election

Survey reveals that voting public would rather be polled at home

29 April 2010 11:03 GMT / By Rik Henderson

Over two in five internet users in the UK would vote online rather than visit a polling station, according to a survey commissioned by Virgin Media Business.

The 2010 E-Politics Online Study, carried out by polling-specialist YouGov at Virgin Media Business' bequest, saw that 43% of voters would use an e-voting system, a rise of 24% since the last general election in 2005. And, with experts predicting that the poll could suffer from one of the lowest turnouts in modern times, it seems like the absence of a digitised ballot card system could be a huge mistake.

"Technology looks like it could be critical in helping to ignite more interest from the public", said Lee Hull, director of public sector at Virgin Media Business. "The absence of an e-voting system is ironic when you think how many people will schedule a visit to the polling station in their digital calendars, and check their emails, texts and Facebook while they’re queuing to vote".

The idea of text voting, though, was less well-received, with only 26% of those questioned saying that it would make them more likely to vote. Indeed, 15% even suggested that it would make them less likely.

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Software, General Election, Internet, Surveys, Online