Citizenship in the age of internet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Citizenship in the age of internet - Essay Example The first and most important benefit of e-voting in Switzerland is that it has raised the number of voters who participated in the recent past elections compared to those who were participating in the earlier elections when the postal voting system was used. E voting has encouraged the young people to participate in the elections due to its simplicity and time saving nature. Another factor that has led to an increase in the voters’ turnout is the facts that the e voting did not replace the other channels of voting like postal voting – those uncomfortable with e voting have an option of using the old methods. In addition, the Swiss who live abroad can now participate in the polls from wherever they are and the handicapped do not have to travel to the postal offices to cast their votes. This voting system is more successful in big cities like Geneva where the pilot projects were carried out. Moreover, e voting reaches the voters from their home and the voting is faster than the traditional methods. There are also possibilities of having several elections in a year and e voting could entice voters to participate in every election. Since its introduction, e voting in Switzerland has received much support from the citizens who more than 74% use the internet and one in every three uses the internet daily. Another advantage of e voting system is the quality of votes. Most of the voters use the internet to access the information they require. This helps them to make informed decisions on the candidates and the electoral process. E-government is another important development in the technological world and it has come to be associated with the word, ‘Information Technology’ in European countries. In e-government, most of the government services are online and the government communicates with the citizens through the internet. On the other hand, the internet media is well developed and