What explains the Success or Failure of the Attempt to Introduce Electronic Voting? A Comparative Analysis of four Countries (Argentina, Brazil, Belgium and Ireland)

Around thirty countries are currently implementing or piloting electronic methods of casting a vote. Moreover, the seven countries in which electronic voting has been used for more than 85 per cent of the electorate account for more than 35 per cent of the world’s population living under democracy. However, several countries that embarked on e-voting programs in the early 2000s have seen a reverse or stand-by in the process by the end of the decade. This paper aims to explain the factors behind the success or failure of the move to e-voting methods. In order to do so, it conducts two pair-wise comparisons: a pair of a successful and a failed implementation case in Latin America and Europe (Brazil and Argentina and Belgium and Ireland respectively). Using roll call data, legislative debates and other primary sources, the paper looks at the specific political context in which e-voting was (aimed to be) introduced and the positions of the political actors for and against the electoral reform. Why some political parties blocked the move to evoting? Is a strategic response linked to anticipating a distributive effect of the change? Is their opposition associated to the type of the electronic device chosen? Did societal actors (public opinion, civil society organizations) play a role in pushing or opposing this reform? The analysis of these competing factors is conducted by comparing similarities and differences between failed and successful cases but also across regions.