• by November 2, 2000

According to survey results released today, Americans have mixed feelings about online voting and the Internet as a source for political and election information, but despite this, people are using email as part of the political process. The survey was conducted by Rasmussen Research and TechTV (formerly known as ZDTV) to measure the nation's attitudes towards electronic democracy.

Internet and non-internet users cited election fraud and privacy concerns as reasons against online voting and worried about the trustworthiness of candidate websites. Only a very small percentage of those interviewed use the Internet as their primary source of campaign news.

Fifty-one percent of American adults said voters should not be allowed to cast their ballots for president and other elected officials via the Internet and 66% said they would be very concerned election fraud could occur during Internet voting. Fifty-two percent said they would be very concerned that politicians, reporters and others would be able to find out how they vote. However, those with Internet access are more willing to vote online - 60% said they would vote via the Internet for president or other elected officials.

Forty-five percent of those interviewed said they have mailed letters to their political representative, and 73% of these said they have also emailed their representative. Eighty-seven percent said they would use email again in the future, suggesting those active in the political process are taking advantage of email as a vehicle to reach people in Government.

The survey found that very few Americans are actually using the Internet to research candidates and issues. Of those following the 2000 Campaigns very or somewhat closely, only 4% said they are getting their news about the campaigns primarily from the Internet. The majority reports they turn to TV (57%) and newspapers (28%) for information about the November election.

Of those who go online at least once a week, 17% have visited a candidate's website in the last month. Of those who visited a candidate's website, 72% said the visit to the site did not impact how they would cast their vote; 37% trust the information and 40% use the interactive features on a candidate's website.