Online democracy: how governments are going digital

Online Voting and Digital Democracy

Online voting takes about 90 seconds, compared with 30 minutes or more for voting in person, yet it remains uncommon.

Estonia is presented as a pioneer: roughly one in three voters casts a ballot online, and almost all government transactions are digital. Electronic ID cards help governments verify people’s identities online. Fifteen EU countries have such cards, but Estonia is the only one using internet voting on a wide scale.

Digital tools are intended to increase citizen participation, not replace representative democracy with direct democracy. Greater participation, the segment argues, can strengthen democratic decision-making.

Presenters and Contributors

No names are provided in the subtitles. The speakers include an unnamed narrator, an unnamed contributor discussing Estonia’s digital government, and an unnamed contributor discussing democratic participation. A young Belgian is shown obtaining an electronic ID card.