Public opinion about electronic voting in Europe as illustrated by YouTube

Abstract

The article presents the results of the analysis of the political news about electronic voting published on YouTube. The purpose of the research is to reveal an attitude towards electronic voting that is formed in YouTube videos, because it is a powerful channel for forming public opinion. In the focus of attention there are four countries that have made the electronic voting a widely used practice (Belgium, Estonia, Switzerland and Russia). The author bases his research on the hypothesis that the decision of a voter to take part or not to take part in elections will be influenced by the information he or she has learnt about electronic voting from the news – especially attitudes towards the voting, expressed by other users of YouTube. The research results demonstrate that in Belgium the electronic voting is treated neutrally, while in Estonia and Switzerland it is positively regarded. As for Russia, the attitude is negative