Research Resoures
Some general sources intended for academics interested in democracy, youth and voting, and online initiatives and research.
About
This portion of the Encouraging Youth Action website is dedicated to researchers in the field. It includes four sections: general research on democracy; results from undergraduate research supported by Elections BC and presented at the 2017 Thompson Rivers University Philosophy, History and Politics Conference; sources relevant to accessibility and voting; and sources related to online voting.
Research Resoures
Some general sources intended for academics interested in democracy, youth and voting, and online initiatives and research.
Online Voting
Here is an annotated bibliography on sources related to online voting. These sources have been compiled to address concerns and wishes of young adult voters and to determine the safety and efficacy of online voting.
Archer, Keith. "Is Now the Time for Internet Voting?: BC’s Independent Panel on Internet Voting" Canadian Parliamentary Review 37.4 (2014): 24-29. Web. <http://www.revparl.ca/english/issue.asp?param=221&art=1619>.
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This article outlines an Independent Panel that was put together to discuss the issue of online voting and come up with some recommendations to put forth to officials. This panel focused solely on remote online voting, so voting not at polling stations, but rather from wherever they may find themselves. They agree that much of the decline in vote comes from a decrease in young people voting. The panel came to many of the same conclusions that I did with my own research and survey results that online voting would be very beneficial, but seems to not be worth the risk at this point. They outline the important issue of trust, and also realize that people trust in the current system and are not at the same point of trusting technology. It is interesting how a different independent panel came to much of the same conclusion that this research led me to.
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Coleman, Stephen. "Just How Risky is Online Voting? ." Information Polity: The International Journal of Government & Democracy in the Information Age 10 (2005): 95-104. Web.
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This article measures the risk involved in electronic voting and the preservation of the legitimacy of the election. It looks at the risks from not only the view of the legislators, politicians and voters, but also the risks from a technological standpoint as they often all differ. It takes an interesting angle at the issue of electronic voting by basing the research and recommendations based off the risk factor involved in electronic or online voting. I agree that there is a huge risk in online voting in many different ways, and this article is a great resource to help assess the large variety of risks involved. I believe that online voting is very risky, and as much as I wish technology was safe and secure enough to not have that risk. I agree with this article in that online voting still carries too much risk.
Enguehard, Chantal. "Ethics and Electronic Voting." ETHICOMP (2014): n. pag. HAL Archives. Web. <https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01016256>.
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This article explains the ethics of electronic voting and provides a thorough outline of the options available for electronic voting and focused on transparency which is a cornerstone of democracy. It describes the voting options that are part of the controlled voting environment or uncontrolled voting environment. It is a great article that shows the viability and safety of voting options which helps the reader and voter to understand where technology is at and what the best option is without sacrificing security. They show the best ways to ensure the safety of a voting option. I think this article is a well-rounded analysis of electronic voting from a detailed explanation of the different methods, to the examination of the need for transparency, to the major flaw of electronic being that it makes it easy to hide flaws in the system. Transparency is one of the most important factors in voting, and making sure to maintain that transparency is very important, but electronic opens the door to the loss of transparency. I agree that it is of utmost importance, and this article is important in outlining so many components of online voting, including the balance between transparency and security.
Loncke, Mieke, and Jos Dumortier. "Online Voting: A Legal Perspective." International Review of Law, Computers & Technology 18.1 (2004): 59-79. EBSCOhost. Web.
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This article assesses the guidelines that electronic voting must follow in order for the vote to be legal and ethical. It examines the issues that surround online voting, including freedom from coercion, secrecy, reliability and verifiability. It analyzes the questions of legality surrounding traditional voting methods versus contemporary voting methods. It shows a different side of the issues surrounding online voting rather than just examining the technical viability, but rather the legality of them. It outlines exactly what is needed in an online voting system to have it be legal and ethical. I believe that looking at the legal perspective of online voting and the requirements that are needed to make online voting proper and legitimate is an important angle to examine. I think it is necessary to consider not only the logistical sides of online voting, but absolutely necessary to provide resources that enable voters to understand the legal prerequisites that need to be in place in order to allow online voting to be even a possibility. I believe a document like this helps in the development and implementation of online voting systems, as it provides a clear outline of the obligatory requirements for any online voting. This way, officials can ensure that all needs are met in order to have a legal and legitimate voting system and election.
Olson, Kai A., and Hans Frederick Nordhaug. "Internet Elections: Unsafe in Any Home?" Communications of the ACM 55.8 (August 2012): 36-38. Web.
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This article focuses on how online voting could possibly exploit voters by having the online voting system hacked. There are so many ways that an online voting system could go wrong, such as people using fake websites, faulty malware, how small communities attacked could go unnoticed, among others. There are many different risks that I hadn’t even considered, as they are somewhat complicated, but this article helps to outline the different risks and possibilities for online voting to go wrong. I didn’t realize there were so many things that could go so wrong, as I believe we sometimes see technology through an idealistic lens rather than a realistic lens. There are so many different types or hacks and attacks that could happen through online voting, and this article really makes it clear that technology is not yet sufficient for use in active elections.
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"The Call for Online Voting: Are We Ready?" InfoSec Resources. InfoSec Institute, 18 May 2016. Web. <http://resources.infosecinstitute.com/the-call-for-online-voting-are-we-ready/#gref>.
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This article outlines the use of Direct-Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machines in America. It shows the convenience of online voting for both voter and official, but also outlines the issue of technological security of online voting. They give technological recommendations as to how an online vote could occur in a secure enough way. They suggest the use of a blind digital signature and secret codes to allow secure elections. I do believe that if experts can guarantee the security of these systems, then voters would be more likely to trust and use them. Having a resource that makes it easier to understand electronic voting is very beneficial, as not all people are academic types, and this article provides an informative but yet somewhat simplistic explanation and outline of online voting.
TRU Philosophy, History And Politics Conference Presentations
On January 20th, 2017, undergraduate researchers from across B.C. presented the summaries of their research initiated and supported by Elections BC at the Thompson Rivers University Undergraduate Philosophy, History and Politics Conference. Here are a few of those presentations and reports.
Let's Talk About Voting
The University of the Fraser Valley
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Presented by: Sarah Ferencz, Evelyn Kalman, and Aaron Siebenga
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Youth Public Policy Engagement and Political Participation
The University of British Columbia
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Presented by: Marcus Drewry
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Encouraging Youth Action
Thompson Rivers University (Philosophy)
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Presented by: Megan McFayden, Kelcey Shinkewski, Emily Dundas Oke
Presentation
Accessibility to Voting
Presented below is annotated bibliography on research surrounding accessibility to voting. This literary review was compiled to address concerns surrounding low voter turnout in the 18 - 30 demographic.
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http://cjds.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/cjds/article/view/158/271
Summary: Disabled persons are less satisfied with the voting system than the average people. ““When a discrete group of citizens is disenfranchised, its consequent lack of political power may be reflected in a systematic neglect of the issues of greatest import to its members or that group” (Karlawish, et al. 2008, p. 66).’ Many have an intent to vote, but this doesn’t show at the polls- most say they didn’t vote due to illness. Youth with disabilities are far less likely to vote than youth without disabilities. These youth hold generally negative views of the government. Low income is another predictor of low youth turnout. A huge barrier for all involved is ‘ the lack of easy-to-understand information about candidates and party platforms on policies. Moreover, not knowing where to register to vote or the location of polling places are obvious informational and communication barriers; so too are unclear or complicated instructions that accompany a ballot, and mail-in ballots for postal voting difficult to mark and fold into envelopes provided.’
https://thetyee.ca/News/2013/04/02/BC-Election-Disabilities/
Summary: this article shows the legislative marginalization of people with disabilities and youth through the eyes of a 54 year old disabled woman and her disabled 19 year old son. Many political decisions negatively affect these people. They are starting petitions but no one appears to be listening. Again low income youth are mentioned. This article shows that these people are interested in being part of the political conversation however they are not being heard. It seems that they feel as though protesting and petitions are a more effective way of being heard than showing up to vote. As mentioned, the woman in the article is a habitual voter who has only seen funding cut to her important social services. This speaks not only to the ease and convenience but the perceived utility of casting a vote.
Community psychology textbook
Summary: homeless are less involved in the voting system and as such do not have their voices heard. The net result is that the people who have some of the biggest concerns with their most basic needs are not being heard. An important distinction is made between actual homeless, the ‘hidden’ homeless - people who couch surf and have no fixed residence but who do not sleep on the street, and the precariously housed - people who do have a home, but move frequently and who are at serious risk for becoming homeless. All three categories have their own difficulties with access to online voting service, appropriate ID to vote, transport, and access to voting sites (many are not living where their voting district is). It is not debated in the field of community psychology THAT there is a problem - the debate is over how to address the problem of youth homelessness.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/canada-election-2015-youth-vote-1.3223117
This article shows that youth respond more to one on one interactions, and this increases their likeliness to vote. Unfortunately there is not much of an available option for that, this is important avenue to investigate. This acknowledges the role of political parties, specifically states that they will interact with people who they know will vote for them, but not so much with undecided voters. It also speaks to convenience, since far more people tweet about voting than actually vote, it would be wise to look into voting options as easy as tweeting. People want to be heard, but they don't feel as though anyone is listening when they vote.
http://www.iase.org/Publications/JIASE%202008.pdf#page=91 (page 98)
This article discusses the issues that persons with disabilities and new immigrants face with respect to access to services in Canada from their own perspective. Specifically, language and the ability to understand language is brought up, this is especially important when attempting to access government services as the wording on Government websites tends to be convoluted and difficult to understand even for those fluent in English.
http://cprn3.library.carleton.ca/documents/48503_EN.pdf
Focusing specifically on aboriginal youth, this article states that aboriginal youth do not vote because of a lack of social inclusion and that politicians do not reach out to them. Education for this group is widely important. One respondent remembers that they were told in school ‘who was in power’ but nothing about how they influenced this. They go on to say that political parties only pay ‘lip service’ to aboriginal issues. There is also a HUGE disparity between what these youth believe is required to be a public official and the democratic practice. ‘Since I became more politically aware a few years ago, I haven’t voted, mostly because I don’t believe in the colonial style of government with elections because elections have been imposed on our people over their own way of governing themselves’.