The effectiveness of information support for remote electronic voting in Russia

Morozova Galina Viktorovna ORCID: 0000-0002-7833-0283 Doctor of Economics Professor; Graduate School of Journalism and Media Communications; Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University 420111, Russia, Republic of Tatarstan, Kazan, Professor Nuzhin str., 1/37 galina.morozova@kpfu.ru Other publications by this author     Yakupov Bulat Ildarovich ORCID: 0000-0003-0055-0806 Senior Lecturer; Graduate School of Journalism and Media Communications; Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University 420111, Russia, Republic of Tatarstan, Kazan, Professor Nuzhin str., 1/37 bulatj@inbox.ru Other publications by this author     Gavrilov Artur Romanovich Senior Lecturer; Graduate School of Journalism and Media Communications; Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University 420111, Russia, Republic of Tatarstan, Kazan, Professor Nuzhin str., 1/37 ARGavrilov@kpfu.ru Other publications by this author

Akimov Andrei Anatol'evich Assistant Professor; Graduate School of Journalism and Media Communications; Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University 1/37 Professora Nuzhina str., office 102, Kazan, 420111, Russia, Republic of Tatarstan AndrAAkimov@kpfu.ru

Introduction

In modern conditions of fundamental changes that have taken place in the media sphere and turned it into a decisive factor in the development of the social system, in fact, setting the vector of its development, the problems of studying information and communication interaction are extremely relevant and, above all, in the field of political and managerial relations, where not only channels of communication between citizens and authorities are being built, but also New forms of political participation are being formed, and the very procedure for changing power is being modernized ^[1]. In this regard, the problem of ensuring equal access of citizens to information, compliance with the principles of its openness, completeness, reliability and, above all, in relation to the younger generation is particularly significant. This is due to his greatest integration into the media environment, but experiencing a transitional period in his development and civic formation. The unprecedented speed of development of media technologies, digitalization and the multifunctionality of mass media have determined their dominant role in the process of socialization of young people, moving them largely from real life to the media system, where the individual received the opportunity for self-realization, self-expression, self-development, self-identification, where she began to form as a subject and object of public relations. The above makes it imperative to study the impact of mass media on the formation of the central segment of youth consciousness – the political segment that defines universally valid values and national identity, which necessitates monitoring the processes of political socialization of the younger generation, studying the influence of mass media on the formation of their citizenship, integration into social relations, involvement in political life and the electoral process. Many researchers emphasize that it is the full involvement of the younger generation in the media environment that determines the scientific and practical-political significance of its careful study ^[2-6].

In Russia, as in most countries of the world, young people make up a significant part of the population. The involvement of young people in the electoral process, participation in elections, as a certain stage of their political socialization and inclusion in political life is crucial for the stability of the state. The youth electorate has its own specifics, which are reflected in the motivation and manifestations of political activity, which must be taken into account when conducting elections ^[7-8]. One of the urgent requests of young people is the use of new technologies and the possibility of electronic remote voting. Today, federal and regional authorities are implementing a large number of activities aimed at involving young people in the electoral process, systematically creating additional opportunities for them to participate in voting, taking into account the experience of previous years, the opinions of Russian citizens about the election procedure, taking into account the problems and shortcomings encountered. New information technologies are being introduced aimed at optimizing the conditions for citizens to exercise their right to vote ^[9-10]. For example, the Gosuslugi portal plays an important role in the interaction between government agencies and young voters. At the same time, the Gosuslugi portal performs two key functions in the electoral process: organizational and informational. The information function means notifying voters of all important events related to the election procedure. As for the organizational component, the Gosuslugi portal allows voters to choose a convenient polling station to exercise their active suffrage while in another subject of the Russian Federation or abroad, apply to vote at home, and also apply to vote remotely. The intensification of work on the implementation of remote electronic voting has contributed to an increase every year in the number of regions that have the opportunity to participate in the implementation of remote voting. During the presidential elections in 2024, remote voting was available in 29 regions. Thanks to this, 4.4 million citizens of the Russian Federation, 1,452,000 of them young people, were able to vote remotely in the presidential elections (https://digital.gov.ru/ru/events/49836 /). At the same time, in 2021, the number of participants in remote electronic voting amounted to 2,535,978 citizens, which is 1.7 times less than in 2024 (https://tass.ru/info/%2013533535 ). At the same time, recognizing the potential of electronic voting as a tool to increase the effectiveness of technical capabilities for citizens' participation in the electoral process, a number of problems should also be noted. These problems are related to the level of awareness of citizens about the possibilities of the electronic voting format, their trust in it, and their motivation to vote remotely. The identified problems in the practice of remote voting are key in ensuring a higher turnout for elections, as they allow for the voting of categories of citizens who cannot cast their vote at a polling station for one reason or another.

Research methods

The methodological basis of the research consisted of monographs on media issues, theoretical developments and approaches to the analysis of the youth segment of the electorate, the results of a content analysis of youth media consumption according to the criteria of content content, the level of interest in political information, its sources, headings, and forms of presentation in social networks. The main sources of empirical data are VTsIOM studies for the period from 2021 to 2024, which include the results of a study of the level of awareness and public confidence in remote electronic voting. The statistical methods used to analyze information on the youth electorate, comparative analysis of the information work of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation and relevant bodies with various segments of the electorate made it possible to identify the effectiveness of information support for the implementation of the remote electronic voting system, the level of awareness of the youth segment of the electorate, the level of trust of young citizens in this system and their willingness to use it.

The results and their discussion

The measures taken by public authorities to introduce remote electronic voting as an alternative way of participating in elections largely optimize the organization of the electoral process, creating not only an infrastructure that allows voting via the Internet, but also activating information support for citizens, increasing their awareness of expanding opportunities for participation in elections, principles and rights, candidates and their programs, thereby increasing, to a certain extent, the credibility of election campaigns. The key issues in the information support of remote electronic voting are the awareness of citizens about remote electronic voting, public confidence in it and the intention of the electorate to use this voting format. A study of the practice of information work on each of these aspects revealed the different effectiveness of the work carried out by the CEC of the Russian Federation and relevant bodies.

According to VTSIOM research related to identifying the level of awareness of the youth electorate about remote electronic voting, during 2024 there was an increase in the number of youth respondents who heard about the new voting format. As of 2024, according to VTsIOM, 84% of respondents aged 18-24 said they were aware of remote electronic voting, and in the age cohort of 25-34, this figure is 91%. (https://bd.wciom.ru/survey/sputnik/questions/a6f05747-97d9-4a60-b81a-a1dbf2cf0736/cross/3cf128e0-bfcd-46f0-8aaf-b7bb73da46d0). A year ago, the number of respondents aged 18-24 who knew about remote voting was 71% and 67% aged 25-34. (https://bd.wciom.ru/survey/sputnik/questions/2ae19d8c-40e4-4946-a842-6de25c786ed3/cross/485928e0-e701-46c1-9e18-e42bd64d672e). Thus, over the past year, the number of respondents who know about remote voting has increased 1.2 times among respondents aged 18-24 and 1.4 times among respondents in the age cohort of 25-34, which indicates a fairly effective information support for the election procedure, an increase not only in the volume of publications on election topics, but also channels, forms, etc. submission of publications on the possibility of remote electronic voting.

When summarizing the election results and determining the assessment of the election campaign, the most important issue is the level of trust of citizens in the election procedure and voting results, which is no exception for the electronic format. Moreover, in addition to the traditional issues related to the integrity of the vote count and measures to control the expression of citizens' will, technical problems such as vulnerability of information systems and network failures also arise. The results related to the identification of trust in the remote voting format are quite contradictory. On the one hand, considering the results of information work in dynamics, we can note a positive trend. Over the past year, the number of young people who trust remote electronic voting has increased by more than 1.2 times. VTSIOM data for 2024 shows that 64% of respondents aged 18-24 and 51% aged 25-34 trust the results of remote electronic voting. (https://bd.wciom.ru/survey/sputnik/questions/f3c230d1-92f2-48b0-a07f-16dc40017c3b/cross/3cf128e0-bfcd-46f0-8aaf-b7bb73da46d0) While according to surveys in 2023, this figure among respondents aged 18-24 was 1.2 times lower (53%), and among the respondents aged 25-34, it is 1.3 times lower (39%) (https://bd.wciom.ru/survey/sputnik/questions/b8e1b562-0d2f-4538-b979-161bd41c0123/cross/754be504-e5dc-4966-b8cd-d7efd976064a). On the other hand, only about 58% of youth respondents trust remote electronic voting. In part, this result may be due to the fact that more than 2/3 of the respondents (68%) (of which 73% of respondents aged 18-24 and 63% of respondents aged 25-34) believe that intruders can use remote electronic voting to vote in the elections instead of voters. (https://bd.wciom.ru/survey/sputnik/questions/74b62a07-30f5-4742-b9e8-121020b1e70d/cross/e522fbc6-3cfe-423c-8e10-2bbf507cc43f). Undoubtedly, it is impossible not to take into account the negative impact on voters of publications in the media and social media about cyber attacks on the resources of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, leaks of user data from government services and portals. In this regard, it is obviously necessary not only to increase publications on the reliability of protecting votes, but also to select communication channels more carefully to increase confidence in remote electronic voting.

An important aspect of the study was to determine the level of intention of young people to use remote electronic voting. According to the data obtained, there was a decrease in the number of voters among young people who are going to vote via remote format. So, in 2021, 50% of respondents (52% of respondents aged 18-24 and 48% of respondents aged 25-34) were going to prefer online voting in the next election. (https://bd.wciom.ru/survey/sputnik/questions/9b065356-99f8-4f4c-839a-5e43cd745591/cross/88843c68-8234-445c-8bf9-015e6610e5e2). In 2024, the situation has changed dramatically. Only 1/3 of the respondents (32% of respondents aged 18-24 and 33% of young people aged 25-34) are going to vote online, which is 1.6 times less than 3 years ago. The majority of respondents in 2024, 62% aged 18-24 and 61% of 25-34—year-olds participating in the study, intend to come to the polling station in order to cast their vote. (https://bd.wciom.ru/survey/sputnik/questions/4ebfa7de-e8fe-41dc-bba9-9d4683f1b847/cross/3cf128e0-bfcd-46f0-8aaf-b7bb73da46d0). The data obtained indicate serious omissions in the information work on the promotion of remote electronic voting among young people, which can lead to inefficient use of costs and efforts for organizational and technological support of the electronic voting process, which will not allow for an increase in the turnout of young people at the elections. To change the current situation, the information content of publications and messages about remote electronic voting needs to be reformatted, and the key message about the safety of such a voting format and the convenience of its use should be brought to the fore. At the same time, you should test different publication options and analyze which ones will be more effective in terms of views, responses, and audience reactions. In order to increase confidence in remote electronic voting, it is necessary to carry out systematic work to inform citizens of the Russian Federation about personal data protection systems, votes and other important information that increase the level of confidence in the election procedure. The key point in establishing trust in remote electronic voting is the transparency of the remote voting procedure and control by citizens, while it is necessary to communicate to all segments of the electoral audience through offline and online communication channels how user data and their votes will be protected. Communication channels should be selected for each segment of the target audience and be extremely relevant in terms of obtaining information. It is necessary to identify and work specifically with specific causes of concern to the audience, and, above all, with young people to increase their participation in elections. The content strategy for media support of the election campaign should include materials that will respond to citizens' objections related to distrust of the voting procedure, and their broadcast should be carried out at all stages of the electoral process.

Conclusions

The analysis results indicate that the majority of young people are informed about the possibility of remote electronic voting, which is confirmed by many other studies. Thus, according to the measurements of electoral activity in the youth sector of the Republic of Tatarstan conducted during 2024, the number of informed respondents about new forms of exercising the right to vote among young people increased 1.3 times (from 69% to 87.5%). This means that the information work on ensuring the election procedure, bringing new opportunities for citizens to exercise their rights using innovative technologies, and the remote format in the electoral process by government agencies is very effective.

At the same time, problems and certain difficulties have been identified in organizing and conducting the election campaign. According to the results obtained, it can be argued that the increase in the volume of content related to the propaganda of the election campaign is not directly related to the electoral activity of young citizens and ensuring its growth. The research data shows, for example, that the actions taken to support the election procedure are not always effective enough, in particular, as a factor strengthening the confidence of the youth electorate in innovations in the technological support of the electoral process. So, only a little more than half of young people trust this method of voting, which, undoubtedly, cannot but influence their decision on remote voting. This is evidenced by the revealed downward trend in the number of young people willing to vote remotely in the elections. The number of those who intend to give preference to the remote voting format decreased 1.6 times in 2024 compared to 2021, from 52% of respondents surveyed in 2021 to 32.5% in 2024. In this regard, it is obviously necessary to reformat the media content of the electoral process, including not only information aimed at raising awareness of the electorate about the conditions, deadlines, principles of the electoral process, candidates and their programs, but also focusing the electorate's attention on the factors that form their confidence in the election procedure. In particular, it is necessary to strengthen in publications the issues related to the importance of innovations in it, the creation of an infrastructure that allows voting via the Internet, advertising, first of all, the security of the new voting format, the convenience of its use, and the expansion of opportunities for citizens to exercise their right to vote. For example, a certain filter for selecting the most effective publications may be their preliminary testing to predict effectiveness, which, in many ways, will help optimize the management of the organization of the electoral process.