Greece does not currently have the institutional and social conditions needed to introduce electronic voting successfully, according to a new peer-reviewed study comparing electoral policy across 35 OECD countries.
Published on August 28 in the journal Policy Sciences, the study examines why some governments have adopted electronic voting while others have postponed, abandoned or rejected it. Its authors, Jieqiong Wu and Julius Felix Gmeinwieser of Germany’s University of Konstanz, conclude that technology alone does not determine whether electronic voting succeeds.
Public trust, digital access, demographics, electoral administration and the relationship between national and local government all influence whether voters are likely to accept an electronic system and whether governments can implement one securely.
Greece emerges as one of the study’s clearest examples of a country where several barriers coincide.
Where Greece Stands
The study does not give the 35 countries a numerical ranking from best to worst. Instead, it groups them according to their experience with electronic voting and identifies different combinations of conditions associated with adoption or non-adoption.
More than half of the countries examined, 57%, had achieved at least some degree of success in introducing electronic voting. Estonia was the only country in the sample to have implemented internet voting nationwide. New Zealand offers electronic voting to overseas voters, while countries including Switzerland and Mexico have introduced more limited systems or trials.
Greece falls on the non-adoption side of the comparison. The researchers place it in what they call the “perfect victim” pathway, meaning that all five conditions associated with non-introduction appear together. Greece is used as the representative example of this category.
That does not mean Greece was ranked 35th, nor does it prove that the country is technically incapable of introducing electronic voting. It means that, under the study’s model, Greece presents one of the most complete combinations of obstacles among the OECD countries examined.
The Czech Republic follows a similar path. Italy shares several of the same structural conditions but is treated as an exception because it has conducted limited electronic-voting trials.
Low Trust and Uneven Digital Access
The first obstacle identified for Greece is public trust. According to the OECD data used by the researchers, the proportion of Greeks reporting trust in the national government in 2023 was seven percentage points below the OECD average.
Trust is particularly important in electronic voting because voters cannot observe the counting process in the same way they can with physical ballots. The integrity of the election therefore depends heavily on confidence in the institutions, software and officials responsible for operating and auditing the system.
The study also points to weaknesses in Greece’s digital infrastructure. Although the country has substantially expanded digital public services, the researchers say it continues to trail other European countries in areas such as high-speed internet access, especially in rural communities.
Unequal access would present a serious problem if voting were conducted remotely. A system intended to make participation easier could instead disadvantage people living in areas with weaker connections or those without suitable devices and digital skills.
Demographics form another part of the study’s assessment. Approximately 23% of Greece’s population is over 65, and that proportion is expected to increase. The authors use age as an indicator of potential differences in digital familiarity, while recognizing that age alone does not determine whether somebody can use online services.
Questions about Electoral Administration
The study also examines the organization of election management.
Its model classifies Greece’s electoral-management structure as politically influenceable. Municipalities and regional authorities have some financial independence, but remain subject to central oversight.
According to the authors, that combination may make it harder to conduct independent local trials while maintaining public confidence that the system is insulated from political interference.
These findings should be treated as the researchers’ assessment, rather than an official judgment on the independence of Greek elections. The paper draws on international datasets, legal documents and secondary research, some dating from 2023 and 2024.
The authors also acknowledge that government commitment was not directly measured. Italy, for example, pursued limited experiments despite displaying some of the same unfavorable conditions identified in Greece.
Why it Matters
Electronic voting includes both machines used inside polling stations and remote internet voting through computers or mobile devices. Its possible introduction is particularly relevant to Greece because of the difficulties many citizens living abroad face in participating in national elections.
Greece used postal voting for the first time during the 2024 European Parliament election. That reform demonstrated the demand for alternatives to in-person voting, particularly among members of the Greek diaspora. Internet voting would go considerably further, but it would also create new questions about cybersecurity, ballot secrecy, voter authentication and the ability to conduct a meaningful recount.
The international experience offers reasons for caution. Switzerland suspended internet voting after security weaknesses were identified before later restarting restricted trials under tighter federal oversight. Germany’s Constitutional Court ruled that voters must be able to understand and verify the essential stages of an election without requiring specialized technical knowledge.
The new study argues that deciding not to introduce electronic voting can itself be a responsible policy choice. In Greece’s case, the authors describe non-adoption as a possible safeguard against introducing a system before the necessary social and institutional foundations are in place.
