The online voting movement is seeing progress in Europe! The European Parliament has voted to adopt a set of reforms to the 1976 EU Electoral Act. The vote tally was 315 to 254. Of the reforms included, the most notable and important was the need for member states to provide an online voting method for citizens living abroad.

There are actually several differences between countries in the EU in regards to the European Parliament elections. The European Parliament has stated that these “undermine the notion of European citizenship and the principle of equality.”

The reforms to the electoral act propose that all EU citizens living abroad should be able to vote in European Parliament elections in several unique ways. These include electronic, online and postal methods.

Both the US and UK have seen poor voter turnouts recently.  The UK experienced a 36% turnout for last year’s European Parliament elections, even though there was a high level of hype, media coverage, and money involved.

A poll this year, by WebRoots Democracy and YouGov, found that 56% of the British public who are online want an online voting option implemented for the upcoming referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU.

The European Council  will now review the proposed reforms to the 1976 EU Electoral Act. Ultimately, the European Council must unanimously endorse the reforms before being approved by all member states.

We applaud the efforts here to promote online voting, however the voting systems used must be safe, secure, and honest. Read about online voting technology.

Source: WebRoots Democracy

About the author: Will Long is the Marketing Manager of Follow My Vote.