In the past decade Internet voting has been used in hundreds of binding elections at multiple levels of government worldwide. Though many European jurisdictions have established well-developed online voting models Canada is emerging as an important research case. To date, there have been more instances of remote Internet voting in local Canadian elections than any other country - about 1.8 million Canadian electors have had the option of voting remotely online in over 80 municipal elections. This paper analyzes the effects of online ballots in Canada. It provides an overview of available data from all elections and then examines the Town of Markham as a case study. Using survey data from the 2003, 2006, and 2010 Markham municipal elections and a 2010 survey of candidates in Markham the paper considers which electors are using Internet voting, whether it has developed a faithful following, the extent to which it encourages the participation of reported non-voters, its potential to positively impact voting turnout, and assesses the implications for candidates. These findings are compared to results from other countries and the implications for elections and democracy are discussed. Finally, drawing upon data from the Canadian Election Study, Elections Canada surveys, and a recent special national survey the paper considers whether there is a climate for Internet voting nationally in Canada.
