INSPIRE
How to Hold Fully Digital Elections
The recent case of the United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) recently made history by becoming the first country in the world to hold a “fully digital” election. But what exactly does that mean, and can other countries do the same? Let’s find out:
The Federal National Council (FNC) is a consultative council and the parliamentary body of the UAE, with 40 members. The National Election Committee (NEC), formed in 2006, is in charge of planning and supervising elections to the FNC, together with the Ministry of State for Federal National Council Affairs (MFNCA).
For over a decade, these bodies have been working to modernize election processes in the country. The introduction of e-voting technology began in 2011, and the world’s first fully electronic national election was held in 2015, with voters casting their ballots from voting kiosks at polling stations around the country. Another electronic election was held in 2019.
With the implementation of election and e-voting technology, the UAE witnessed clear benefits in each of these elections. In 2015, they recorded a 119% increase in participation, and the 2019 elections saw a higher participation of female voters than ever before.
Most recently, the MFNCA partnered with Scytl again for the 2023 elections to the Federal National Council, this time with a new goal: to hold the world’s first fully digital election.
For the 2023 election to be considered “fully digital,” a few key updates were made to the election process. In addition to the e-voting kiosks like those used in 2015 and 2019, an online voting channel was also implemented in the 2023 election, allowing voters to cast their ballots from any internet-connected device, and from any location. This online channel also extended to eligible voters residing outside the country, who had previously still relied on paper voting methods.
The online voting platform was made available both as a web portal and through an official election app associated with the country’s renowned UAEPass national digital identity. The system also made use of biometric facial recognition technology to authenticate voter identities.
With these technologies in place, every single vote in this election was cast digitally, and securely, over the internet.
A total of 298 candidates from all 7 emirates ran for the 20 elected seats of the FNC. Thanks to the completely digital nature of the election, the results were consolidated and announced within 8 minutes of the polls closing.
The new online voting channel was well-received by voters, with a majority (92%) choosing to cast their ballots remotely. Of those, 74% voted via the mobile app, available for Apple and Android.
With the success of this recent UAE election, can we expect to see fully digital elections being held in other countries around the world?
Unfortunately, there are still some challenges facing the adoption of online voting and other election technologies worldwide. Primarily, it comes down to legislation. The UAE currently has the necessary legal framework to allow for the introduction of innovative technologies in their electoral process, but many countries do not.
Furthermore, it may not be feasible for some countries to eliminate paper voting entirely. In Estonia, a country often used as a prime example of election modernization, remote online voting is available to every citizen. In recent elections, 51% of ballots were cast online. While this marked the first time a majority of votes were cast over the internet, with 49% of ballots still being cast on paper, a complete shift to online voting is not likely in the near future.
However, while entire countries may not be holding fully digital national elections anytime soon, many such elections are being held at local or regional levels. Numerous municipalities across Ontario, Canada, for example, hold elections with online voting, and some use the channel as the sole voting method.
All that said, it is not particularly necessary to completely eliminate paper voting. Afterall, having multiple voting channels can help increase the accessibility and convenience of voting for everyone. In the end, governments will need to determine the best solution for their needs. For the UAE, a fully digital election made sense, and it paid off, breaking participation records and allowing the vast majority of voters to cast their ballots conveniently from their own devices.
This article was written by Jake Mahr (PhD), Head of Content at Scytl.
