When do governments digitalize election? Determinants of successful e-voting adoption in 35 OECD countries

Electronic voting (e-voting) is crucial for modern democratic institutions in the digital age. Despite nearly six decades of e-voting technology development, the willingness of countries to embrace this technology varies widely. Existing studies primarily focus on country-specific experiences, leading to limited agreement on the definition of successful e-voting adoption and its causes. As a result, there is a lack of generalized knowledge on the success and failure of e-voting adoption from a public policy perspective. This study seeks to address this gap by making three significant contributions. Firstly, we propose a definition of successful e-voting adoption through a comprehensive policy evaluation framework. Secondly, we identify explanatory conditions for e-voting introduction from two highly relevant fields: policy success and e-governance. Thirdly, we establish a macro-level understanding of how these conditions and their combinations contribute to the success or failure of e-voting adoption. To accomplish this, we employ a fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fzQCA) approach on data from 35 OECD countries.