
A new poll has suggested that Londoners would be more likely to vote in Thursday's Mayoral elections if they could do so online.
A YouGov poll, commissioned by ISP TalkTalk, found that one in four Londoners didn't plan to vote on Thursday.
However, rather than apathy, it was the hectic lives of the electorate that would make it difficult to get to polling stations. Forty-eight per cent of the people surveyed said that they would be more likely to vote if they could so it on the web.
"We all lead such busy lives - this research proves the significance of convenience to busy Londoners, and shows how the internet is now engrained in daily life. It touches every aspect, including politics," said Dominic Stinton, marketing director at TalkTalk.
"Being able to vote online makes democracy more accessible, which would lead to increased numbers of people voting on polling day. The question is surely not whether online voting will come to the UK, but when?" Stinton continued.
Though electronic voting won't be possible, many of the ballots will be counted electronically.
However, the Open Rights Group (ORG) has expressed concerns about this method, saying that there were "no hard and fast guarantees that systems won't go wrong".
"In terms of voter trust, it cannot replace the scrutiny of candidates, agents and independent observers on count night," said the ORG's Becky Hogge.
www.talktalk.co.uk
www.openrightsgroup.org
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