E-voting or electronic voting refers to any voting process where an electronic means is used for votes casting and results counting. E-voting methods include optical-scan voting systems, specialized voting systems like DRE or direct recording electronic voting systems, punch cards, national IDs, the Internet, computer networks, and telephony systems.

Electronic voting is already in use in many countries all over the world and has proven to speed up the counting of votes as well as improve turnout among disabled voters. Several countries however have expressed concern over the possibility that electronic voting can lead to massive electoral fraud.

Types of Electronic Voting

Paper-based E-voting system

In a paper based e-voting system, a touchscreen is used in voting. After the voter has finished casting his votes, the unit prints out a hardcopy of the ballot which the voter has to pass to the election officer in charge so that it can be counted in a centralized location. The ballots will then be counted through optical-scan voting systems.

This system has the advantage of a paper trail as every person's votes are recorded on a piece of paper. However, holes that are not properly aligned in a punch card or stray marks on an optical-scan card may lead to a vote not being counted by the machine. Moreover, physical ballots can still be lost during or after transit to the counting stations.E-Voting

Direct recording electronic systems

This is essentially voting through a computer. Here, a digital swipe-card, buttons or a touch screen will be used in order to make the choices. The votes are stored in a physical memory device which will be sent to a centralized voting station. Public network DRE voting systems can send the results after each voter has finished or by batches throughout the election day. Although the votes can be sent through the Internet, this is only used to speed up the rate of counting. The physical memory devices will still be used to verify the count.

The benefit of this voting system is the speed in which results can be obtained because results are tabulated almost instantaneously. This system also reduces the risk of mechanical error. Since voting is done through a computer, ballot appearance can also be modified to fit the needs of the voter. A voter with poor eyesight could, for example, use a ballot format with larger text. This system also helps the government save money by eliminating the need to print ballots.

Internet Voting

Internet voting, on the other hand, can be done in remote locations. This system has already been tested in overseas absentee voting of some countries. Estonia, for example, uses this type of e-voting system by providing voter passwords through the postal service or via a national ID equipped with a microchip.

Advantages of Electronic Voting

Electronic voting has many advantages over the traditional way of voting. Some of these advantages are lesser cost, faster tabulation of results, improved accessibility, greater accuracy, and lower risk of human and mechanical errors.