From piloting to roll-out: voting experience and trust in the first full e-election in Argentina

Abstract

Despite the conventional wisdom that e-voting would take place first in established democracies and later in developing countries, the speed of implementation has been higher in the developing world, especially in Latin America, with several countries such as Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina and Ecuador implementing e-voting methods. This paper looks at the experience of Salta, the first Argentine district rolling out e-voting for the entire electorate in 2013. Based on a survey of 1,000 voters in the 2013 provincial elections, the voter's experience and confidence in the election process is analyzed. Among the key findings, there is a strong effect of a voter's ability to use the voting machine without assistance on the overall support for e-voting and positive perceptions of integrity in the election process. These results have both theoretical and policy implications.