Zachary Spicer, Associate Professor in the School of Public Policy and Administration, has co-written a new book titled, Voting Online: Technology and Democracy in Municipal Elections (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2024), with co-authors Nicole Goodman, Helen Hayes, R. Michael McGregor and Scott Pruysers.
In Voting Online, Spicer, Goodman, Hayes, McGregor and Pruysers explore the increasing trend towards online voting in Ontario’s municipalities, and the unknown effects of this digital voting reform. Focusing on Canada, where online voting and elections has been widely adopted at one of the highest rates world-wide, the co-authors delve into surveys of candidates, administrators, voters and non-voters in cities across Ontario, providing a holistic view of the practice of digital elections.
“Voting Online will become an important reference point for practitioners and academics alike,” says Micha Germann, senior lecturer in Comparative Politics, University of Bath. “Particularly novel are its findings on the effect of online voting on satisfaction levels with (local) democracy, which are likely to spark debate.”
Zachary Spicer is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Policy and Administration. He holds a PhD in Political Science from The University of Western Ontario and began his career as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Brock University after completing post-doctoral fellowships at the University of Toronto’s Institute of Municipal Finance and Governance and the Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and Policy at Wilfrid Laurier University. He has also served as a Senior Policy Advisor with the Ontario Public Service and as the Director of Research and Outreach with the Institute of Public Administration of Canada. He is the recipient of both the Susan Clarke Young Scholars’ Award and the Norton Long Young Scholars’ Award from the Urban Politics Section of the American Political Science Association.