Voters keen on e-voting for election – survey

IRELAND’S last attempt at e-voting was a costly disaster, but a new survey claims more than half of the Irish electorate want to give it another go.

Slightly more than half of voters polled said they would like to have the option of casting their ballot via electronic means.

The survey found 40pc of eligible voters who didn’t vote in the last general election in 2016 would “definitely” vote if remote e-voting was an option.

However, 59pc said the traditional polling station was still their preferred method.

Market research company Censuswide carried out an online survey of 994 Irish adults on behalf of Pure Telecom in June.

Some 27pc of respondents said they regarded voting at polling stations as “outdated”.

The most popular method of e-voting chosen by respondents was online voting, with 42pc saying this should be an option.

Almost a fifth said they would like to vote using a mobile while 12pc thought voting should be done via texting.

Some 17pc of respondents said the current method of voting does not cater for the needs of those who are unable to travel to polling stations, such as the elderly and housebound.

Paul Connell, CEO of Pure Telecom, said: “With the presidential election and a referendum approaching, it is perhaps a good time to consider alternatives to traditional polling methods.”