Does the Introduction of Online Voting Create Diversity in Representation?

Abstract

The Internet’s effect on political communication is omnipresent. However, very few jurisdictions around the globe allow their citizens to cast their ballot online. What are the electoral consequences of this reform? Research, so far, has mainly looked at security considerations and effects on turnout. In this research note, we broaden the scope of prior studies by examining the effect of online voting on diversity in representation. Using the voting results of municipalities in the Canadian province of Ontario both before and after the implementation of online voting, we test whether this reform has increased the representation of women and youth. We do not find that Internet voting has any significant impact on which candidates are elected, with both the gender and age of elected mayors being constant across online and traditional elections. We further find that the number of woman candidates does not increase with online voting.