Individual attitudes towards internet voting: The case of France

Abstract

Since the early 2000s, internet voting has developed considerably. However, limited research still examines citizens' expectations regarding its use in the electoral process, particularly in countries that have not yet introduced internet voting. This article addresses this gap by studying citizens' opinions about internet voting. We challenge existing preconceptions about their propensity to accept such a voting option. Our empirical analysis is based on a post-electoral survey in France. We demonstrate that French citizens broadly favour the introduction of internet voting. Such a system is rejected primarily due to political reasons or general social media usage. Indifference to the issue reflects the social divide traditionally observed in electoral and online political participation. Furthermore, we show that different groups emerge, depending on the arguments they use to support or oppose the introduction of internet voting.