Electronic Voting

Cabinet Office written question – answered at on 5 December 2017.

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Photo of Lord Lexden Lord Lexden Deputy Chairman of Committees

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to undertake a feasibility study of online voting, following the recommendation of the report Cost of Voting by WebRoots Democracy published on 6 November.

Photo of Lord Young of Cookham Lord Young of Cookham Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip), Lords Spokesperson (Cabinet Office)

The Government notes the recommendations in the WebRoots Democracy report. The Government is committed to building a modern democracy that works for everyone. The introduction of electronic voting (‘e-Voting’) would require very careful consideration.

The selection of elected representatives for Parliament is regarded as requiring the highest possible level of integrity and, at present, there are concerns that e-Voting, by any means, is not seen by many to be suitably rigorous and secure, and could be vulnerable to attack or fraud. To provide a system over which there are doubts to part of the electorate would not be appropriate. Furthermore, the Electoral Commission in their reports on the 2007 e-Voting pilots found that it had little direct effect on increasing turnout.

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