Innovation Partnership supportive of the potential for online voting

The Innovation Partnership today welcomed the findings from a Government working party, which has found that online voting could be feasible by 2016.

The working party has been looking at the online voting option as a way of increasing voter turnout at elections. Innovation Partnership Chair Murray Sherwin said the Partnership welcomed the findings.

“The planned trial of online voting for the 2016 local body elections will be a great opportunity to test the potential for internet voting to improve participation in the democratic process for expats, young people, and those with access issues.

“We are excited about the potential for this approach to work not only for voting, but for increasing overall engagement with government and democracy.”

A recent forum in Auckland looked at online voting, following a survey by Massey University. The survey of 18 to 24 year olds found that young people felt that being able to cast their vote online would be more of an incentive to vote than a $50 payment would be.

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