The role of trust, participation and identity in the propensity to e- and i-vote

Abstract

The paper analyzes the issue of citizens' propensity to deploy automated elections as a dependent of several ascribed and attitudinal factors. Data are drawn from a computer-assisted telephone survey carried out in the Autonomous Province of Trento, which through project ProVotE sponsors the largest program of touchscreen-based voting in Italy. Alongside socio-demographic variables such as sex, age, education, and occupation, we describe how socio-political attitudes such as trust, participation, and identity affect the propensity to vote by automated means. We conclude that, based on the binomial and multinomial logistic models we implemented, our data support the hypothesis of existing divides between those who are favourable to automation in elections and those who are not, the main cleavages being age and level of education. Furthermore, a greater degree of trust in the generalised other is needed in e-voting but not perceived in i-voting, while both voting procedures appeal those who are already politically mobilized but less attached to traditions.