Genuine  democracy presupposes well-founded trust in the electoral process, regarding electoral procedures and the formation of electoral choice. It requires securing the secrecy as well as the transparancy of the vote. Traditionally, the democratic credentials of elections are based on physical arrangements regarding electoral procedures (printed ballots, isolated voting booths) and the formation of electoral choice (via public information and journalism).  

However, these arrangements (and their normative legitimation) are being disrupted by the spread of new electoral technologies, especially in new democracies of the Global South. Paper-based election systems have increasingly been supplanted by electronic election systems (e.g. [[biometric voter identification]], ballot scanners, internet voting). And as political campaigns have become increasingly complex, datafied, and sophisticated, new technological coping strategies have emerged in response (e.g. [[voting advice applications]], fake-news detectors, and filtered or bubble-bursting news feeds). Despite potential gains in efficiency, reliability, and convenience, such technologies raise concerns about the inclusivity, reliability, manipulability, and verifiability of these electoral technologies.  

In light of these concerns, the project seeks to investigate to what extent new electoral technologies necessitate rethinking normative assumptions about the legitimate basis for confidence in electoral outcomes and trust in democratic institutions, particularly in light of two (potentially) disruptive effects of these technologies. On the one hand, they challenge received normative criteria for democratic credibility by introducing new options and difficulties regarding how to realize (1) secrecy/anonymity, (2) transparency/accountability, and (3) the appropriate balance between (1) and (2). On the other hand, they are being implemented in contexts of power and domination, both domestically and transnationally, that may be transformed or further entrenched as a consequence of their implementation. This, in turn, requires rethinking related concepts political equality, inclusion, freedom, and vulnerability. Particular emphasis will be placed on the context of power in which such technologies are promoted in the Global South. 

• Arthur Gwagwa
• dr. Dorothea Gädeke

From February 2011 - January 2012, I will be directing an NWO-financed project within the "Contested Democracy" programme, entitled "Voting Advice Applications and the Politics of Citizen Competence"
For more information, see the website:  http://blog.phil.uu.nl/citizencompetence/

• dr. Thomas Fossen