Estonian experience of electronic voting: prospects of implementation in Ukraine

Abstract

The paper examines the Estonian experience of electronic voting and reveals the prospects for the introduction of the Estonian model of Internet voting in Ukraine. The author investigated the procedure for conducting electronic voting in Estonia, the legal, organizational and technical aspects of its implementation, as well as the positive features of the implementation of electronic voting. On the basis of the conducted scientific research, the author came to the conclusion that when implementing electronic voting, it would be appropriate to use the Estonian experience, including regarding voting within a certain time before the voting date at the polling station, the possibility of changing the vote before the end of the time allocated for voting, priority of voting at the polling station over internet voting in case the voter voted using both forms of voting. It is also necessary to develop appropriate software that would use the performance of the i-Voting system, possibly based on the Diya mobile application and the Diya internet portal. For this purpose, it will be expedient to make appropriate changes to the Election Code of Ukraine, taking into account the provisions of Art. 116 of the Law of Ukraine "On the All-Ukrainian Referendum". The measures listed above will contribute to the implementation of e-democracy in Ukraine, especially in the context of the impossibility of creating polling stations in many regions of Ukraine, which are currently occupied or war zones, given the significant destruction of infrastructure, the temporary relocation of the majority of the population of the respective regions to other regions. The implementation of the electronic voting system would solve some of these problems that may arise during the next parliamentary and presidential elections in Ukraine.