Case Studies > Digital Democracy
DIGITAL DEMOCRACY
Online process to vote for accessible government elections.
During the election for the new Italian government, 33% of those eligible to vote did not vote, and part of them couldn't vote due to severe weather conditions and/or disabilities.
The objective is to enable those eligible to vote, that live with visual, motor, and neural disabilities, to exercise their rights.
Italian data analysis
63,8%36,2%Turnout
Abstained
430.000Invalid ballots added to abstained amount
Source: www.openpolis.it
The cost of the election.
400.000.000€Average price estimate value, paid by the State during politics elections.
Average price estimate value of management and staff for polling stations on the whole national territory.
223.000.000€6.135,00€Average price estimate value of management and staff for A SINGLE polling station.
10.000,00€Travel facilities
Source: www.money.it
People with disabilities in Italy
How many of them live in Italy?
In Italy, in 2019, people with disabilities - or those who suffer from health problems, serious limitations that prevent them from carrying out their usual activities - were 3 million and 150 thousand (5.2% of the population).
Age and gender??
The elderly are the most affected: almost 1.5 million people over 75 (22% of the population in that age group) are in a condition of disability and 1 million of them are women.
Which kinds of functional limitations?
In the population aged 15 and over
- 2% have severe vision limitations;
- 4.1% have hearing limitations;
- 7.2% have motor limitations.
What about their mobility?
The ability to move freely is very limited among people with disabilities. The data on mobility, relating to 2019, show that only 14.4% of people with disabilities move with urban public transport, against 25.5% of the rest of the population. These differences vary greatly with age. Among individuals aged between 15 and 44, 26.3% of those with limitations and 29.6% of those who do not use urban transport; if we consider the over seventy-five year olds, the corresponding percentages are 7.2% and 24.6%. In the case of the use of the train, the differences are even more marked.
Source: www.disabili.com
Let’s see a real example of a common city in Italy
Below some photos took in my city, Piazza Armerina.
A really nice view, but…
The pictures illustrate the route from my house to a school used as a polling place. This route is very difficult to navigate, particularly for those with motor and visual impairments. The sidewalks are narrow, and you are forced to walk on the roadway used by cars to avoid colliding with trees or tripping over uneven surfaces.
User Interview
Francesco suffer of motor disability. His patology is called “spina bifida” and he owns it since birth. He was born during an age while medicians were experimenting cures and he is lucky because doesn’t needs to live on a wheelchair.
Below the path he needs to do from his house to the polling station:
Here, factors of frustrations extracted after the interview:
Polling station hard to reach
Easy to forget vote guidelines
Why is not allowed an online vote?
Sidewalks damaged
Expecting support
No problems to share personal data
Polling station bad organized
Autonomous
How does voting for expatriates work (2022)?
Italian voters who are temporarily abroad for work, study, or medical reasons for a period of at least 3 months that includes the date of the upcoming political elections on September 25 can vote by mail in the Overseas constituency, provided they opt for this mode of exercising their voting rights by August 24, according to Article 4-bis, paragraphs 1, 2, 5, and 6 of Law No. 459/2001 (Rules for the exercise of voting rights of Italian citizens residing abroad).
To exercise this option, the voter temporarily abroad must send to the municipality of registration a declaration of option containing all the information required by law, including the foreign postal address to which the electoral package should be sent. This declaration must reach the municipality by the 32nd day before the election date, that is, by August 24, and must be accompanied by a photocopy of a valid ID.
To facilitate completion, an editable PDF form provided by the Electoral Services is available online on this site.
The declaration of option can be submitted by the deadline via mail, fax, email (including non-certified), or delivered in person, even through third parties.
Not so clear…
Let’s summarize the main problems:
A lack of equipment;
Voting at a physical location when weather conditions are bad, also prevents even those without disabilities from being able to vote;
Italian citizens residing abroad must complete a PDF form in which they express their intention to vote;
They have a deadline to submit this form;
No confirmation is provided;
The risk of the vote being lost is high.
Now, let's take a look at the environmental impact in terms of CO2 emissions.
I used data provided by ChatGPT, as I am not an expert on the environmental impact of single-sheet paper production processes.
Having conducted multiple tests, I obtained different, but very similar, data sets. These should be considered indicative data, useful for understanding the concept and highlighting the differences in consumption related to CO2 emissions.
Shifting voting from using cars to online voting with a secure platform would avoid approximately 3.809,35 tons of CO2. The emissions from online voting are extremely low compared to those generated by physical travel by car.
What does 3.809,35 tons of CO2 represent?
Cars: it’s like the equivalent to the annual emissions of about 760 cars. Each car emits approximately 5 tons of CO2 per year.
Electricity: are equal to the energy consumed in a year by about 500 average homes in the United States. Each home produces around 7,5 tons of CO2 per year through electricity usage.
Air Travel: it’s like taking about 1.900 round-trip flights from New York to London for a single passenger. A transatlantic flight emits roughly 2 tons of CO2 per passenger.
Trees: to absorb 3.809,35 tons of CO2 you would need about 63.000 mature trees. A tree absorbs approximately 60 kg of CO2 per year.
Cement: it’s the equivalent of producing 380.000 bags of cement. Each 50 kg bag produces about 10 kg of CO2.
Washing Machines: it’s like using a it for about 19 million washing cycles. Each washing cycle emits an average of 0,2 kg of CO2, considering energy consumption.
Smartphones: it’s like producing about 190.000 smartphones. The production of each smartphone generates an average of 20 kg of CO2, considering material extraction, manufacturing, and transportation.
Waste: is comparable to the emissions generated by 6.500 tons of waste sent to landfills. every ton of waste generates about 0,58 tons of CO2 equivalent.
Eating Beef: it’s equal to the environmental impact of producing 1.900 tons of beef. Each ton of beef produces about 2 tons of CO2 equivalent throughout its production chain.
What are the opportunities related to an online voting process?
More people would have the opportunity to vote autonomously;
The environmental impact related to CO2 emissions would decrease drastically;
A healthy environment;
The time factor associated with travel, waiting in line, etc., should not be underestimated.
User Scenario.
How might the process work?
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