The Possibilities of Internet Voting in Jamaica: Moving from Convenience to Fixing the Problem of Voter Apathy among the Youth.

Recent scholarship recognizes the importance of information and communication technologies (ICT), particularly the Internet, in helping to overcome challenges to political participation. The advent of Internet voting or I-voting in encouraging youth political participation has been framed within the context of convenience voting which can help to strengthen democracy by encouraging voting, especially among the more technologically-savvy youth population. This paper explores the relationship between Internet voting and youth political participation in the Jamaican society through a survey of 600 youth. The findings suggest that while it may not substantially reduce apathy, which is more generally linked to perceptions of political efficacy, Internet voting holds the potential to improve voter turnout among Jamaican youth. While convenience was not a major factor driving political apathy, it was an important factor in encouraging participation at the polls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]