Conclusions: Adopting electronic voting. Context matters

In the preceding chapters a variety of views and developments regarding electronic voting has been presented. On the one hand, the evidence makes it clear that in some places the opportunities offered by Internet voting are being keenly explored. In several countries the foundations for online voting are being put in place, experiments have been carried out or policies are being drafted. On the other hand, critical analyses that warn against fundamental problems of Internet voting have been presented, suggesting that Internet voting is not really a viable option for serious democracies. A number of countries otherwise deeply committed to democratic practices hesitate to pursue online democracy. What can be made of these seemingly contradictory trends? Is there a future for Internet voting? Are the critics right in their claim that online election is a dead-end street? Or should we trust the proponents’ belief that technical and social problems will be overcome, and go for the advantages promised by electronic channels of voting?