Young people see e-voting as sexy

Sixty per cent of people would be more willing to vote if they could do so electronically, according to new research published by the Electoral Commission.

Last week vnunet.com reported that 1.4 million people will be able to vote electronically in the local elections on 1 May, after the government increased the number of e-voting pilot schemes from six to 17.

Now a MORI poll conducted for the Commission, which oversees elections in Britain, has found that 21 per cent of voters considered polling stations too 'inconvenient' to cast their votes.

Three in five indicated that, if they were given the option of electronic voting, it would make them more likely to vote.

Given the choice between electronic methods, 41 per cent would like to vote over the internet, 33 per cent would choose text messaging, and 26 per cent would use digital TV.

In a separate poll, conducted by ICM for leading public sector consultancy HEDRA, 51 per cent of people aged 18 to 34 said that they would be more likely to vote if they could do so online.

Ipswich is one of the local authorities in the pilot scheme, running internet, telephone and text message voting. The council's campaign has seen 8,000 people pre-register to vote electronically.

"We're hoping to increase the take-up with young people," said Max Stocker, a spokesman for Ipswich Council.

"When the campaign visited Suffolk College, the students didn't know what a local election was and they didn't know what e-voting was, but they thought it was quite sexy when they found out they could text their votes in and get involved."