A Vote for Electronic Voting

Georgians overwhelmingly prefer electronic voting to other methods of voting, according to the most recent Peach State Poll.

Seventy percent of the voting-age public say they are more comfortable casting their respective ballots electronically on the touchscreen machines than by punch cards (preferred by 8 percent) or by marking paper ballots (12 percent). Eighty-four percent of Georgians say that the touchscreen voting machines are an improvement over using punch cards, and 82 percent say they are an improvement over paper ballots on which voters mark with a pen.

In addition, poll respondents express a high level of support for a uniform voting system. The Peach State Poll, a quarterly survey of public opinion conducted by the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government, finds that 95 percent of the public believe that having a uniform system is either very important (77 percent) or somewhat important (18 percent). Only 17 percent of Georgians believe that individual counties should be allowed to decide the method by which their constituents cast votes.

Other Peach State Poll results:

A plurality of Georgians say that the greatest advantage of the new fully electronic voting system is that it is convenient to use (44 percent); 22 percent cited increased accuracy as the greatest advantage.

When asked what they believed to be the greatest problem with the new voting machines, a plurality (26 percent) said that there were no problems, and 19 percent cited the likelihood that some people are not comfortable with new technology as the greatest problem.

Georgians with higher levels of education are more likely to believe that the new electronic voting system will increase the accuracy of Georgia's elections. While 56 percent of those with a high-school education or less believe that the new system will improve the overall accuracy, 73 percent of those with postgraduate education believe it will.

While 70 percent of the public say they are most comfortable voting on touchscreen machines as opposed to punch cards or other paper ballots, that percentage drops to 58 percent for Georgians over age 65.

Georgians who do not use automated teller banking machines report being less comfortable and more skeptical of the electronic voting machines than those who use ATMs. Still, a majority (55 percent) of those who do not use ATMs show more comfort with the electronic voting machines than with any of the alternatives.

These data were taken from a Peach State Poll survey conducted between Nov. 16 and Nov. 23, 2003. The poll included 807 telephone interviews of randomly selected adults in Georgia. For a sample of this size, the margin of error at the 95 percent confidence level is +/-3.5 percent.

The Carl Vinson Institute of Government, a public service and outreach unit of the University of Georgia, has as part of its mission to provide policy-makers with systematic, objective research to inform policy decisions. In accordance with that mission, the Peach State Poll aims to give voice to the public on important policy matters and issues pertaining to political, social and economic life in Georgia.

For more information on this survey or other Peach State Poll results, see the Web site.